3 Ties That Bind
by Kyeian
Summary: COMPLETE Political persuasions and practical realities, a little complication to your everyday life. Jun's meddling cost much in the past, and once out of jail he's not one to sit idly by. This is the third story of Ties That Bind.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Welcome to hell," Duo whispered in my ear as we watched Jun Martin walk slowly from the courtroom with his lawyer. "Crispy fried or sodomized?"

I turned my head to focus on him in amazement. There was something wrong about his eyes…something only I ever seemed to see. The others hadn't seen it since they had taken back Deniel…and that had been eight years.

He winked at me, then moved up the sidewalk to the lawyer, resting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Mr. Martin," he greeted Jun calmly.

"Mr. Maxwell," Jun muttered, taking several steps back and staring at him.

Duo grinned that insane grin that had gotten him the street name 'Cheshire Cat' and shifted slightly so I became evident over his shoulder.

Jun stared at me, and I stared back. Unlike before, I knew he was no longer a real threat to my person—but seeing someone you were absolutely terrified of for years always gives you pause.

Jun blinked at me a few times, though I refused to move or react to him in any visible way. Finally, he swallowed and looked away as the lawyer turned and blinked at me—stared at me, rather, just like he was staring at Duo.

…Two knights of the royal court, accredited with taking down the syndicates that had taken over most of Sanq kingdom after the war…if anyone found out our real personalities, it would probably let them down—especially Duo and I.

Jun started for the car waiting for him at the curb.

"We're watching you," Duo informed him in Cantonese with a smile.

The lawyer looked lost.

"Burn in hell," Jun returned in kind, sliding into the car.

Duo smiled happily at him. "I'm glad to see you didn't die…because I'm going to kill you."

Jun looked sharply to his lawyer a moment before glaring at Duo.

"Have a wonderful day," Duo added happily as the confused lawyer moved into the car as well. Duo pounded the top of the car and stepped back as Jun flipped him off.

I couldn't _see_ what Duo did, because he had his back to me—but by the flash of apprehension in Jun's eyes, I had a feeling I didn't _want_ to know.

Duo turned to me, smiling happily. "Come on, let's hit the mall. I want to be sure there's nothing else I wanted to get Dusty."

"You're spoiling that boy," I muttered as he walked past me, turning my head to watch Jun's car disappear. I followed Duo up the sidewalk to where our limo waited, frowning slightly when he met my eyes.

"Oh don't be silly, I spoil all the kids," Duo muttered, sliding into his seat as I also sat.

The car crept slowly from the spot it was parked in, and I wondered what Duo had been up to. He'd been running all over finding Trowa's son birthday presents, and under that guise…I mean, it was _obvious_ that he knew Jun's lawyer didn't speak Cantonese…who knew what all he'd gotten up to. Obviously, he knew the trial date and time, and had managed to talk me out of the building with _just_ the right amount of time… We'd been collecting paper work for Heero at the courthouse.

It said to me that Duo was up to his old bullshit again—if not only because his eyes.

"What's your issue?" he asked, himself again—loving husband and father of a beautiful daughter, completely responsible and more than dependable…

"You looked different earlier," I informed him easily. While no one else seemed to see him look off kilter, I'd realized that honesty was the best policy. Not so much with the others, who put up a wall and refused to listen to me, but dealing directly with him…it got the direct results. Telling him exactly what was on your mind when no one was around to embarrass either of you…that was the way to do it.

"Different how?" he asked, tilting his head at me.

"You know _exactly_ how different," I muttered, looking out the car-window.

"It's Jun, Fei," he said quietly, moving with cat-like grace to be kneeling in front of me. He grabbed my hands and raised them to his lips. "It's Jun."

I nodded, avoiding his eyes.

"You can't…it's just…" Duo trailed off, thinking. "Jun…he's absolutely terrified of me."

"That happens when you rape someone," I snapped harshly.

Duo's laughter was evil as he met my eyes again. "How did you figure that out?"

I stared at him in mild disgust and mild fear. He had never admitted that it had happened—we'd all asked him at different points. He'd always demanded why we were saying such things and complaining at us to the extent that we dropped it for feeling bad.

"What?" I demanded.

"How did you figure that out?" he asked again, smiling at me happily. "I mean…I took off from you lot, and left no clues…"

"I forget anymore," I admitted, blinking at him. "Something about your belt…"

His laughter raised the hairs on my neck on end as he _obviously_ thought about something. "God that belt was great…"

"I'm glad Nira cut it up," I whispered at him, not sure what to think.

The words were greeted with a silence and him avoiding my eyes. He shook his head finally, looking up to me. "Ash would have wanted to know all about it, I don't know what I would have told her."

I nodded, blinking at him again.

He lay his head forward onto my lap, completely silent as we made our way to the mall. "When are you going to get married?" Duo sat up to meet my eyes. "I want you to have kids."

I flashed him a small smile and shook my head, focusing back out the window.

"I just…I want to see you happy."

"Marry me, then," I returned distantly. It was an old game now. I'd gotten over my crush, but some jokes remained…

"I told you, we don't have a way to get rid of the body," he muttered, "and Ashley would be sad…"

"Come on," I muttered, meeting his eyes. "You're right-hand man to the king and queen. Get them to pass a pocket-polygamy act."

He grinned appreciatively at me, resting his head on my lap again. "If I thought Relena would do it," he informed me, "I really would."

"That's fucked up," I informed him quietly, studying his dark head. "What about your wife?"

"What about her?" he asked, meeting my eyes again. "It's not like I don't love her."

I smiled slightly at him, running my hands through his hair.

He sighed slowly, closing his eyes. "Just do me a favor and _try_ to get a girlfriend, right?"

"What if I want a guy?"

"Georgie," he muttered, "Taylor. Mark...Duane…"

I tsked, looking back out the window as he named off my ex-boyfriends. I didn't know _why_ I couldn't _keep_ a relationship…it was beyond me…or maybe a poor choice on my part. That seemed to be a dominating factor in my life; the ones who were good for me were the ones who were married.

"I want you to get with a girl," he muttered. "You don't have any luck with guys."

I sighed, leaning forward and resting my cheek against his head.

"Just…try for me, okay? Please?"

"Of course."

- -

I could hear Duo laughing and Dustin was squeaking excitedly…and my mouth dropped open as I moved into my living room from the hallway. "My god, Duo, you didn't…"

"It's a puppy!" Dustin crowed, throwing the cover off a box. There was no mistaking the contents, because the puppy had been squeaking just as much as my son. "Daddy! Uncle Duo got me a puppy!"

Duo's face lit into his trademark grin, his eyes sparkling. "I told you when Hilde was pregnant that I'd get the new one a puppy, it's Dusty's seventh birthday. I got Shadow for Lea on her seventh."

"You son of a bitch," I muttered, trying not to laugh as my son's face was covered in licks by a small bundle of fur.

Duo laughed.

"What's going…oh dear," Relena's expression had been curious when she moved into the room through the open front-door, but when her eyes rested on my son, she stopped.

"Black lab and shep?" Heero asked, moving around his wife as his little girl, Faye, darted between her parents.

"Indeed."

"Uncle Duo!" Faye squeaked in protest. "Why did you get Dust a puppy?"

"Because he's seven," Duo replied, running a hand through her hair with a grin.

"I want one!"

"So does Ashley," he agreed, looking up at us, "but Lex and Lea were perfectly happy with kittens, I don't get it."

"Puppies are cooler than kittens, Tio," Alex informed him, moving up behind me and then around me. She smiled at me. "Can I have one, Apa?"

"Uh…let me think about that," I muttered, pretending to think, "hmm…no." I gave her a look. "Sorry."

The fourteen year old gave me a look of regal exasperation, turning to curtsey to Relena. "My Lady."

Relena smiled, nodding her head. "Alexia."

Alex grinned happily before moving across the room to latch firmly around one of Heero's arms as she stared into his eyes. "I really really want a puppy, Tio."

"You're asking the wrong uncle," Heero returned, not moved.

Alex giggled and then turned to focus on Duo coyly.

"You can do better than that," Duo admonished her, raising an eyebrow. "What happened to subtle?"

She sniggered, moving up to lean against his side, wrapping her hand into his as she focused on her little brother.

"That's more like it," Duo muttered, also focusing on the boy.

"I'm gonna beat you both," I informed him. I didn't know if he realized that he was teaching my daughter to be manipulative, or not. It was hard to tell what Duo thought about in his actions, and what he didn't—like the puppy. I had a feeling that the puppy was his long-standing joke come to pass.

…And Alexia Rosa really did _not_ need a puppy.

Duo met my eyes and I could see in his expression that he'd held his tongue because of the children.

"I thought the party was this evening," Selena muttered, moving into the room behind the royals. She and Duo's daughter, Ashley, paused in the door to look the room over with interest before Selena met my eyes.

"It is," I agreed, "but I'm getting homicidal thoughts concerning your husband."

"What's homicidal?" Ashley asked, ducking between Heero and Relena like their own daughter had.

"A very bad thing," Relena replied, running her fingers through Ashley's hair as she passed.

"Daddy, you're not supposed to make Trowa mad," Ashley muttered to Duo, moving to stand between his knees and look up at him earnestly. "You know Mommy said not to."

"I haven't made him mad yet," Duo replied, smiling at her and pulling her onto his lap. "So it's all good."

Ashley giggled. "That's a technicality."

"You can tell who _her_ dad is," Heero noted to Relena.

Relena smiled, pulling her sunglasses down to look the room over. "Where is Quatre?"

"I'll go get him!" Lex pulled away from Duo and darted from our living room.

"Jacob said something about faxing papers to Spain," Duo added indifferently, shrugging. "Something about peace and prosperity…I wasn't listening to him, though. I'm not sure what he was doing."

Everyone focused on Duo sharply.

Duo laughed. "Ambassador Drovan lost his mother and will be late. He faxed Jacob at like…midnight last night."

"Oh!" Relena raised her hands to his mouth. "He doesn't have to come right away, then! He can get someone else! I completely understand!"

"Yeah, so did Jacob. They've been going back and forth about it all night."

"How do you know that?" Heero asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He was in our room last night," Selena replied easily. "I don't think Duo's slept yet."

That got Duo more dirty looks, which he ignored. Of course, it also got him a few confused looks—why hadn't he slept?

"Good morning!" Marlea's voice broke into the silence. Her cheer and good humor washed into the room as she bounced in with Lex on her heels. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, lovely," Duo muttered, offering his arms for a hug.

"Where's Fei?" she asked, moving from one uncle to the next.

"I'm right here," Wufei's voice came to us as he moved into the living room, looking us over. "Where are Quatre and Jacob?"

"Jacob's working and Q is jacking off."

"Tio!" Marlea smacked Duo.

Duo started laughing. By the look in his eyes it was obvious he hadn't really meant to make a lewd joke with the young ones around…

"Well, I can help him with that," Wufei muttered, starting back out the door.

"Wufei!" Lex's voice was scandalized.

"Would you _stop_ warping our children?" I demanded of Wufei and Duo.

Duo laughed as Wufei swung back into the room with a huge grin.

"My dad is not…" Lea started, her cheeks flushed, then paused, looking around for help.

"What is your dad doing?" Selena asked carefully, studying the girl's face.

"He woke up late, he's getting dressed…I had to wake him up."

Selena nodded, walking across the room to sit next to her husband and watch Dustin. Dustin had finally put the puppy down, but it was still in his lap. His light brown hair was shining in the light of the noonday sun as he looked up at us with Hilde's eyes.

Speaking of Hilde.

I turned, looking toward my bedroom. Hilde was pregnant again, and close enough to term that she didn't move all that fast. Not that I was the only one with the ability for multiple children. Relena was pregnant again, not even three months, and so was Selena, though she was in her second trimester.

"You okay, baby?"

"_You_ carry this one," Hilde returned darkly, moving into the hall and massaging her back. "It's your turn."

I smiled at her, moving down the hall to scoop her up. "How about I carry you?"

"That doesn't spare my back."

I grinned at her, carrying her down the hall. "We're waiting for Quatre and Jacob."

"Ah," she muttered, leaning against me with a small smile as she took in everyone that was in the room. "Good morning," I set her down and she leaned against me.

"Good morning, Tia!" Lea exclaimed happily.

"Morning, Mom," Lex agreed.

"Duo, I swear," Hilde muttered as Dustin moved up to her with the puppy extended—she trailed off as the puppy started licking her face.

"I'm glad you like him," Duo informed her with a smile. "I was so hoping…"

Hilde giggled. "You're just evil."

- -

"And then he asked me how I figured it out," I studied Relena's face worriedly. How calmly Duo had admitted to raping Jun set the small hairs on the back of my neck on end. The fact that he'd _laughed_ actually scared me. For all that I'd realized that _telling_ the others did no good—they never saw the look in his eyes, they never heard the laughter—I felt that the admittance needed a note. "He thought it was funny."

Relena covered her face with one hand, showing every sign of exasperation and disbelief I'd ever seen from her. Why the woman I called queen decided I was making things up concerning Duo, was beyond me. The reasoning all of them had taken for not _acknowledging_ that Duo was _not_ mentally firm, was beyond me…

"He had the insane look again," I repeated firmly, studying her carefully. "I keep telling you guys that I see it…and you never believe me. _Please_, Relena, think about it…why would I make this _up_?"

She sat up sharply, slamming her palm against the table. "Because you're still in love with him! You want us all to…"

"To _what_?" I demanded, trying not to shout at her as I sat up straighter. "How would making Duo seem insane do me the _slightest_ damn bit of good? Even if I really _were_ in love with him…" I shook my head at her.

"Why would Duo rape someone? Most of all Jun?" the woman hissed the words. "He _hates_ Jun…"

"Rape is a crime of violence," I snapped quietly. "Rape is a form of control…and we're talking _about_ Duo. He's not like that now…he's mostly better now…but he hates Jun…Relena, he told him he'd kill him."

"That shouldn't bother you in the slightest," she noted darkly, her narrowed eyes glued to mine.

I stared at her in disbelief, trying to understand why she refused to believe me…

"I can't think that of Duo," she informed me, looking away from my eyes and nearly jumping to her feet. She was twisting her wedding ring around her finger as she continued to shake her head. "I can't…"

I was at a loss for words. There was nothing I could do but stare at her.

"Hey, Lena?" Heero muttered, moving into the room. "Are you picking up Faye, or did I forget?"

Relena focused on her husband and my king sharply.

The man moved across the room slowly, stopping beside me and resting a hand on my shoulder almost apologetically. "What's the matter?" Heero added, glancing down at me as I studied his eyes to gauge his mood. He looked back to his wife. "We aren't late yet, are we?"

Relena shook her head, glanced around at me. She studied me, obviously wanting to say something, then turned and darted from the room.

I sighed, looking to the ceiling.

Heero sighed heavily himself, moving around to take his wife's vacated seat. "He told you?"

I nodded, wondering how long he'd been listening before he'd decided to come in. "When we went to pick up your paperwork from the courthouse this morning, before he gave Dusty that puppy. I couldn't figure out why he insisted we take the limo, but figured it didn't hurt…and then he started some sweet-talking…fast-talking, whatever you want to call it…and when we got out…"

"Jun?" Heero asked quietly, lowering his eyes. "I was trying to decide how to tell you…sorry it took me so long."

I nodded, looking back to the table. "He was talking to him in Cantonese…he told Jun he was going to kill him, and Jun's lawyer had no idea what they were saying."

Heero looked away as well.

"You believe me?" I asked quietly, uncertain.

The king studied me a long time in silence, then dropped his eyes. "I really don't want to…but…it's Duo."

I nodded, looking down myself.

"So?"

I considered the question a long moment, then the morning. "We got in the car after talking to Jun, and I told him—I always tell him when he looks like that…and he told me it was because _of_ Jun…and that Jun was terrified of him…"

"Which we knew."

I nodded, meeting Heero's eyes again. "I told him that happens when you rape someone," I swallowed, studying him closely. "He laughed, Heero. He laughed like he _used_ to…and asked me how I figured it out."

Heero blinked.

"He added that…"

"Well, really," Duo muttered in amusement behind us. "I did a pretty good job at hiding it…it's been eight years."

I froze.

Heero jumped to his feet and spun, sending his chair flying and pinning Duo to the wall all in one motion. He slammed our friend against it with an expression of helpless rage…

Duo's eyes flashed with a dirty kind of amusement and tilted his head so Heero had full access to his throat.

"That's disgusting, **_Sir Knight_**," Heero snarled, ignoring the gesture.

"And killing because blood turns you on isn't?" Duo purred back.

Heero narrowed his eyes.

"I haven't raped anyone since I became a knight, either, **_Majesty._**" Duo considered Heero a long moment before looking to me.

I gave him an unimpressed look.

"Not yet, anyway."

Heero slammed Duo against the wall again, and I stood…and then I noticed something silver at his waist.

"You said Selena cut that up!" I nearly shrieked, dismayed as the grommet-covered belt he so loved became evident.

"I told _Trowa_," Duo agreed with a smirk. "The…one…of you whom I've used it on."

Heero pulled away from him, glaring.

"Do me a favor," Duo muttered, lowering his voice to be sure only Heero and I heard him, "and stop manhandling me. What would you say if your daughter came in when you were turning me on?"

"Would you knock it off?" Heero snapped.

Duo grinned slightly at the man, then looked back to me. "I was just going to ask you if you wanted to join Ash and I for lunch tomorrow. But I can see you're busy," he added quietly. "So I guess I'll track you down later."

Heero tsked in irritation after him as I bit at the inside of my cheek.

At least now I _wasn't_ the only one who'd seen it.

I shook my head slightly, meeting my king's eyes. "We need to get ready for Dusty's party."

- -

Nira was humming happily in the bedroom, and I could hear Ashley mimicking her mother from her own room. Both the ladies were getting ready for the party, and as per norm, I was already ready.

The phone started ringing, and I set the magazine I was reading on the coffee table, moving across the room to grab the cordless…

"I'm not here," Selena informed me.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone.

"Selena there?" Relena asked curiously.

"She said to say she's not here," I replied, moving back to the couch. "What's up?"

"Uh…I wanted to talk to her," Relena replied slightly nervously. "Do me a favor and tell her I told you to tell her I called when she got back."

I grinned. "All right."

"Bye," she added, hesitating a moment, then hanging up.

I blinked a few times at the phone as I hit the button, not sure what to make of that.

"Who was it?" Selena called, and her voice was closer to the bedroom door.

"Relena," I explained, setting the phone down and picking my magazine back up. "She said to tell you that she called when you got back."

Amusement was evident in my wife's tone. "All right."

"Daddy," Ashley muttered, moving down the hall, her brown hair falling loose around her shoulders, "doesn't Relena know that Mom is really here?"

"Yeah," I replied, setting my magazine down again and offering my arms to her. She moved to me, turning and pulling her long hair over one shoulder. I pulled the dress-belt tight around her waist, tying the ends in a careful bow. "Saying it that way lets Relena know that your mom can't talk right now…and it's sort of a joke with us."

"But it makes Relena sound kinda stupid," she muttered, turning back to face me, handing me her hair-tie. "Half-pony, please."

I nodded, taking it from her and starting to pull her hair up. "If you heard what Relena said, you wouldn't think that. Since I told her Nira told me to say she wasn't home, she told me to tell Nira that she called when Nira gets back…which she wanted me to say word for word."

Her small face twisted in concentration as she tried to follow the word game—she understood me, but she didn't understand how it was funny.

I finger-combed her hair, smiling slightly at her. "You're pretty."

She grinned at me, fluttering her eyelashes slightly. "I know, Daddy."

I laughed, scooping her into my lap and grabbing my magazine.

"Daddy!"

- -

"What is with them?" I muttered to Duo as we moved onto the patio of the palace. All through Dusty's party, Heero and the others had been giving my husband looks and dealing with him delicately. Now, the kids were all moving into Quatre's apartment to watch movies—our kids, the party had been over for a few hours. The rest of us were heading to the hot tub.

"I have no idea," he muttered, meeting my eyes a moment and shrugging. "I was fucking with Wufei and Heero this morning, though."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You took Wufei to see Jun, didn't you?"

He flashed me a guilty smile and shrugged as he climbed into the water, offering his arms to lift me over. "Heero asked me to go pick up some papers from the courthouse."

"Did he ask, or did you offer?" I demanded sharply, studying his face seriously. I'd figured he was up to something with his "birthday shopping", but hadn't been able to pin anything down since nothing he brought home for Dustin was beyond his norm. It just seemed to take him longer to do most of it.

"Um…" Duo avoided my eyes very seriously as he sat me down on the edge, then slipped and almost fell on me. "Ack! I'm sorry!" He fell into the center of the tub and I couldn't help but giggle at him.

"Be careful," Heero protested, moving forward instantly as Relena moved out the doors behind her husband. The woman studied us seriously as I rolled my eyes at the king. "Are you okay?"

"Genius here fell," I returned, smiling at the guy.

"I said I was sorry," Duo pouted, offering his arm to stabilize Heero. The pair of them together hoisted Relena over the edge, where Duo slipped again and began grumbling about where his feet were or something.

"You look pregnant," Relena informed me helpfully, studying the low mound of my belly curiously as she sat on the edge of the tub beside me.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You look fat."

"Hey!" she protested as we both broke into giggles. She moved around to sit next to me and the men joined us moments later, discussing the benefits and disadvantages to having their women pregnant at the same time.

"I swear you plan it," Relena grumbled.

"If it happens again," I warned Duo, "then I'm going to be very put out with you."

He smiled happily at me.

"Why is it," Trowa asked as he carried Hilde toward the hot tub, "that my wife is the most pregnant, and we're the ones taking care of all the children?"

"You're not taking care of all the children," Duo informed him, "and you're the one with the _most_ kids."

Hilde giggled as her husband lowered next to Relena and I.

"What?" Trowa demanded. "How does that…"

"Where's Quatre?" Duo asked sweetly.

"He's putting the mov…oh," Trowa trailed off, glancing back toward the apartment.

"I couldn't tell you why _he's_ taking care of all the kids when he's only got one," Duo added with a grin. "And she's even old enough to take care of herself."

"Good point," Trowa slid into the tub.

"Cannon ball!" Wufei shouted, darting out of the building with Jacob on his heels.

"Don't you…" Relena started…and we were all splashed as he dived into the actual pool. "Wufei!" the queen squeaked as the cold water washed over all of us.

I was giggling hard.

"Holy crap this is cold," Wufei sputtered, rising to the surface as he treaded the water. "Come in, Duo…"

"Just a…"

"Duo," I started.

He winked at me, pulling himself to sit on the edge of the tub with his back to the pool.

"Really, Duo…" I tried again.

He shoved himself backwards, using the edge of the hot-tub as a launch—another wave of water washed over all of us as Duo landed about a foot away from the Chinese man, laughing his ass off.

"I think I'll just…" Jacob slid carefully into the hot tub.

"See, there's a _reason_ I was the last one out," Quatre announced happily, moving up to the edge of the hot tub and sliding into it. "I sent you all out here because I know Wufei or Duo will dive."

"See!" Duo announced happily to Trowa. "Not our fault!"

Quatre snickered as Trowa rolled his eyes.

"Lea and Lexi will be out in a few," Quatre added, sinking low into the water and relaxing.

I looked to Quatre's windows, studying the children who were all watching the television screen with interest as Lex appeared in the door to the place, calling something. Lea was down the hall in a moment.

"I wish I still had the body to run around in a bikini," I muttered.

"You're…_in_ one," Quatre muttered in confusion, studying my swim-wear.

I giggled running my hands over my belly. "This is not considered the _bod_ for a bikini."

"You know, I'd rather _not_ think of the babies having _bodies_," Heero muttered, raising an eyebrow at me. "They're not even sixteen yet."

"And how old were you when you saved the world?" I asked, tilting my head at him.

He snorted.

"Sixteen," Quatre informed me seriously, then winked.

I started to giggle.

- -

E/N: Well, it's been a long time coming, but I've finally gotten a plot for this story...thanks to a couple friends locally, lol. Let the fun begin, and let's wait to see where it ends...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The old church looked stark and oddly inviting when I finally reached the clearing, moving into the building and pausing a moment to cross myself at the door before moving forward to kneel on the ancient kneeling boards. There was the same old comfort in that building, comfort in the worn-wood digging into my knees…comfort in the bright light shining through the two windows that shone directly on the altar…one was stained-glass with a lot of green. The one that really shone on the altar, however, was plain glass. A sense of peace pervaded the sanctuary…

"I know he came this way," Lex muttered seriously. Her voice seemed very near, but oddly distant…like she was walking through the threes.

"Of course he came this way," Lea agreed. "You know he only comes out here to be in the church."

"Have you ever figured that one out?" Lex added quietly. By the sound of it, they were crossing the cleared area. "We should wait here."

"I know," Lea muttered from very near the door. "You remember coming out here in the snow?"

Lex giggled and I rose quietly from my knees. Relena had stopped the demolition for the old building and had them restore the roof the year we'd taken Deniel. Or was it the spring after? A lot had happened in those eight years, not limited to the little girls growing up.

"Did you hear what Sammy was saying about Nicholas?" Lex added after a moment of silence.

"Which? That he asked her out?"

"Yeah…"

"You know that's a lie. He doesn't really like her. He only hangs around with her because she hangs around with us. He took her home."

Nicholas…I needed to talk to that boy. He was a sixteen-year-old accident waiting to happen. He was one of those "good kids" whose parents never tell them no; one of those "good kids" who _wanted_ their parents to tell them no.

"He wants to take you to the summer dance," Lex whispered.

Lea snorted.

I shook my head, sitting down on one of the restored pews. The floors had been re-done and a simple carpet had been added. I'd long since realized that Relena had the place dusted frequently, and it was Heero's innovation to add the stained-glass window.

"He's going to take forever," Lea muttered with a heavy sigh.

"You're so impatient," Lex retorted. "I told you we shoulda just got our swim stuff on, but _no_…you _had_ to come _now_, and we _still_ have to wait."

Did I sense bickering?

I grinned slightly to myself.

"It's not like I _thought_ about it…why do you think he's here this time?"

What? Me, or…

"Probably wants a pardon," Alex noted dryly. "He probably got caught on a job."

"If he got caught, he'd be screamed all over the news," Lea argued. "Did it ever occur to you that he _might_ just be here to visit with his family?"

That got a long silence before Alex muttered something distantly. It wasn't a pause of conversation silence, either. It was Alex being aware that her mother's side of the family never tried to visit with her.

"Good evening, ladies," I muttered mock-pleasantly, pulling the door open and moving down the stairs as I studied them with a raised eyebrow.

The girls were at the bottom of the stairs, and both turned widely innocent eyes onto me…the kind of caught-in-the-act look that made me wonder what they thought I didn't know.

"Keith is here," Lea muttered quickly. "Keith just showed up."

…and I lost a good portion of my good mood.

- -

Duo was talking to Lex with obvious exasperation as he, Lea, and Alex moved into view from the stand of trees that led to the church. The three of them stopped when they saw me, and the conversation died out as Duo took the lead, studying me with that same interest that always sent chills down my spine.

No, he hadn't killed me, but his threat stood true.

He could do so much _more_ than kill me…or could have.

"Are you going to swim, or…" I turned at the voice to see Wufei moving from the castle in his swim-trunks. He stopped completely as he focused on Duo, and for a brief moment, I wondered if I were actually _in_ danger.

"Uncle Keith," Ashley darted around Wufei and came running up to me. "Mom gave me a pair of Dad's shorts for you to wear…Daddy!"

"Hi, angel," Duo muttered as his little girl ran up and hugged him.

"Uncle Keith is here," she informed her father as if it weren't obvious.

Duo smiled at her. "Is he, really, now? Where ever could he be?" he looked around, pretending not to see me.

I smiled slightly, looking around the yard for somewhere to change. When no wall or anything became evident, I shrugged and started to pull my shirt off.

"I _know_ you're not gonna strip down to your naked ass with the _girls_ around," Duo noted seriously. "So I have to ask myself what you're doing…"

"Hi, Duo," I muttered, giving him a sour look as he moved even with me. "Coming swimming?"

"I might," Duo muttered. "But I'll go _change_ first."

"I really _can_ change right here," I informed him as if he didn't already know it. "I could…just ignore the fact that your girls are standing here, no problem. I don't have issues."

The look he gave me was murder in and of itself. I looked away from his eyes and focused on Wufei, who'd moved silently up to my side.

Some things would never change. The fact did remain that I'd killed a woman Duo loved, but he was my brother-in-law now. Ashley loved me, if all else failed, and Duo'd sooner eat his own liver than cause his baby-girl harm.

"In the house," Duo informed me, hardly moving his mouth. "And I have smaller shorts upstairs if you need them."

I met his eyes and sighed again, looking to Fei. "We'll be back out in a few."

"Just don't _kill_ each other," Wufei muttered.

I grinned at him as I followed the cat into the palace again. I wasn't so sure what to think when Duo turned left, into the royal apartments. He waved briefly at Heero, who was sitting at a table. The king glanced up at us and waved back, though his eyes followed me until we were out of sight.

"I thought you were reading the…" the queen's voice trailed off as we emerged into her main living quarters.

"Hey, baby," Duo purred at her, moving across the room to kiss her cheek as she giggled and smacked at him. "Sorry I didn't knock," he added.

"It's…fine," she muttered, then focused on me. She held her silence a long time before looking back to Duo—and it was the same kind of look Wufei had given him.

Duo, for his part, either didn't see it or ignored it.

"Hi, Ace," Relena muttered finally.

"Majesty," I bowed slightly.

"I trust you're well? To what do we owe this honor?"

"I just thought I'd drop by," I shrugged. "See what was going on in the world of the royals…tell Selena that Jane got pregnant."

"Did she _really_?" Relena's tone was somewhat amused as she sat forward. "Isn't she only like…twenty?"

"And single, with no idea who the father is," I rolled my eyes. "I swear, if she wasn't my sister I'd beat her."

"Maybe you should _because_ she's your sister," Relena noted.

"She's pregnant, though…"

Relena grinned.

"Come on," Duo muttered, starting for the door with a wave at his queen. "We're going swimming."

"I'll be out in a bit," Heero announced as he moved up the stairs with a newspaper in hand. "I assume I'm invited?"

I bowed lower to him than I had to Relena, then realized I'd done it.

He smiled slightly at me, but showed no more acknowledgment than Relena had.

"It's your pool," Duo noted.

"And my house," Heero gave the guy a curious look. His eyes lit up and he grinned at his friend. "And my country."

Relena snorted.

"Oh yeah," Duo snickered back, "forgot about that."

"Somehow, you always do," Heero grinned at him, tossing the newspaper he was holding onto the couch.

"My bad," Duo agreed, winking them both as he started for the door. He was silent as we moved into his apartment, and Selena appeared over the counter to blink a few times at both of us.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Didn't those shorts fit?"

"Duo's bigger than me," I muttered, rolling my eyes and tossing the shorts she'd sent down at him.

Duo sniggered.

I rolled my eyes as he headed into the bedroom.

"Oh…"

"And," Duo noted back to her, "he was going to strip pool-side with Ashley, Lexus, and Liana…"

"Keith!" she protested.

"Lexus and Liana?" I echoed blankly.

"Lex and Lea," Selena shrugged slightly, then narrowed her eyes at me.

"Oh come on, it's not like they'd have _watched_," I protested.

"Go change…in a room," Duo ordered, tossing a pair of shorts so they landed on my head. "Your sister doesn't want to see your bare-white-ass either."

"You know a little too much about my ass," I noted in some amusement, moving down the hall toward him.

He laughed an evil sounding laugh as he studied my eyes, and I paused as he headed into the room and closed the door.

"What?" Nira asked, looking down the hall at me. "Just go to that room on the left."

I blinked back at her before turning into my niece's room and starting to strip. Either something was going on that Nira-doll had _no_ idea about, or Duo was just in a good mood. It was hard to tell, but from the looks on Wufei and Relena's faces…

"Ack, your ass _is_ white!" Selena cried, turning away from the door and starting to giggle.

"Oh come on," I muttered, pulling the shorts up, "you know I have a sexy ass…"

Duo came out of the room, raising his eyebrows at me and looking to his wife. "Sexier'n mine?"

Selena made a mildly disgusted face and Duo rested a hand on her belly as he kissed her lightly. She smiled back at him—still as completely in love as…

"Gag me," I muttered, moving around the pair into the living room.

Selena giggled and moved up behind me, draping her arms over my shoulders. "You need to get married and give me a niece and nephew, brother-mine."

Duo flashed me a grin as he started for, and out, the door.

"I _will_," I muttered at my sister. "I just have to _find_ someone…crap, the most likely match anymore is Wufei."

"You can always adopt," she muttered with a giggle.

I elbowed her gently, then pulled away from her as I shook my head. "I think not, I'm not marrying into _this_ lot…"

She giggled at me more, then glanced outside at a loud and very female squeal. Wufei had thrown Alexia into the pool and she was protesting somewhat verbally. "Hm…"

"I'm gonna go out now," I muttered. "Are you coming?"

There was another squeal and splash…there went Lea, then…

She nodded, smiling at me again. "I'll be down in a few."

"You can get your swim suit on?"

She smacked me, giggling as she turned and headed for the bedroom.

I chuckled to myself, and headed for the pool.

- -

I sighed as I stared across the dance-floor and the music pounded in my ears. Keith was a step behind me, and I could sense from him the same hesitance I myself was feeling. I wasn't too old for these places, but the fact that all my friends were married with children made me feel…separate. Quatre moved around Keith and up to my side, stepping against me so I stumbled, then he moved and disappeared into the crowd.

"He's cordial," Keith muttered in my ear with a slight smirk.

"Come on, let's get drinks."

"Chang?"

I looked up at a harried looking bartender as Keith and I leaned against the bar. The man's face lit up with an excited grin.

"That's scaring me," Keith noted to me as Jacob moved up on my other side.

"They're short two tends," Jacob muttered to me. "Poor Fredrico here is manning the ship alone…and it's sinking fast."

Fredrico, or Enrico, gave the knight a mildly disgusted look before meeting my eyes again. "I'll do _anything_ if you get back here and help."

"Anything?" Keith purred the word and nudged my shoulder, indicating the man suggestively with his head.

I snickered, knowing I shouldn't really let the guy…lead me…into temptation, as it were. I was actually on friendly terms with Enrico, who happened to be straight.

"Anything," the man agreed coldly.

I laughed, hopping the bar and sitting in front of the guy with my legs spread. I knew it looked like I was going to ask for a blow-job, and the expression of mild-fear on his face made the joke more than worth the effort. I leaned down and he refrained from pulling away, though he refused to meet my eyes. "Introduce me to your sister."

He pulled away from me in disbelief, blinking a few times up at me. "Seriously? You don't want…I mean…"

"It's a phase," I muttered. "It'll pass. I suppose I can ask for something dirty if it makes you feel better."

"No!" he exclaimed quickly, looking relieved. "No, that's fine…I'll…um…she's in Newport, but…"

"I have some patience," I muttered, hopping down beside him and studying him curiously.

"You don't just want to…" he started, then paused.

He knew I was a knight, though the fact that I was in street-clothes with my hair down changed my appearance. I wore a suit and had my hair pony-tailed for the public eye. He also knew that I had the reputation of a slut; that always seemed to be part of my M.O., though I was happy the drug-usage bit hadn't followed me from Deniel.

"I'm a _knight_, Monsieur. Do not offend me! I'd never use a woman…when it could be traced _back_ to me."

Keith started laughing, then pounded the bar. "Bar-tend! Get me a fucking orgasm!"

I turned and leveled him with a look as his eyes sparkled and Enrico started pulling out a glass.

"I'm _working_, sir," I muttered, pretending to be stiffly offended as I stared at him in mock-shock. "Please refrain from such vulgar…"

Keith was laughing again, so I gave up my joke and took the cup from my sudden co-worker, shoeing him down the bar.

- -

"What the hell are you doing back there?" I demanded of Wufei as I slid between the patrons of the bar. He looked very normal in his apron with his hair pulled back into a slightly messy ponytail. Seeing him behind the bar made me want to slip into Rob-mode. I knew that many would consider his look sexy, sans the apron, but didn't feel any particular need to announce to Jacob that I could see exactly what he was looking at in any given guy. I wasn't attracted to it, per se, but I knew.

"What can I get ya, Robbie?" he muttered with a smirk and sparkling eyes.

"Fucking orgasm'd be nice," I muttered back, trying not to grin any larger at him.

He let out an exasperated sigh and set the glass he was holding down with a thunk. "I meant to _drink_."

I started laughing as the people around me looked between us uncertainly.

Wufei laughed as well, turning to mix up my request.

"Seriously," I added after a moment. "What are you doing?"

"Enrico got ditched today," he explained, setting a cup in front of me on the lower counter with flair as he turned and grabbed up a bottle of something clear that I'd never seen put into the drink before. He smirked at me as he turned and poured a healthy shot into the glass. "He offered me anything to help him out."

"I can't imagine what you asked for," I noted wryly as he set the glass on a napkin in front of me…and marked something on it with a pencil from a pocket of the apron. "Do I want to know?"

His eyes sparkled somewhat evilly before he turned and moved down the bar without answering.

"He's going to fuck you up," Jacob noted, sliding up beside me and studying the mark my friend had made on the napkin. "You realize what he put in there, don't you?"

"No idea," I muttered, sniffing at the cup. Other than the general smell of alcohol and… "Peach?" I muttered, looking to my friend. "Why did he put peach in it?"

"Don't ask me," Jacob muttered, taking the cup from me and sipping at it experimentally. A slow smirk spread across his face and he passed it back to me, gesturing down the bar until Wufei looked at him. He gestured Enrico off with a wink before pointing at the mark on my napkin.

Wufei did a little dance-thing that he'd picked up when he was feeling particularly conceited, winked at me, then turned back to what he was doing.

I sipped at the glass, then choked at the sickly-sweet taste of peach juice…

"He's kinky like that," Jacob noted, snickering as he studied my expression. "Just so you know."

I narrowed my eyes at him, then looked down to Wufei with a raised eyebrow. My old friend was smiling slightly evilly at me.

"That's actually a concoction of Tro's," Jacob added. "When he had that craving for peaches because Hilde was feeding'em to Dusty."

"Ah," I nodded, sipping at the cup again and looking to Wufei. When he met my eyes, I gestured him to me.

"What's the matter?" he asked, leaning across the bar to be closer to me with a frown, then his eyes widened. "It's too sweet…crap, sorry, Q." He took the cup from me without another word, then looked to Jacob.

"Yeah," Jacob agreed, taking the cup back from him. "It reminds me of something…one of those nostalgic associations…"

"Duo," Wufei replied promptly, turning and mixing up another glass.

I choked on a laugh. "Oh god, it does, doesn't it?"

Jacob blinked at us both in confusion.

"I like the idea of some peach," I reassured Wufei when he hesitated by the bottle. "Just not so much."

He nodded, pouring a bit in. "I can't believe I forgot…"

I laughed. "It's fine, just don't do it again…"

He gave me a look, but waited as I sipped at the drink. I nodded at him, and he disappeared up the bar.

"Holy crap," Enrico muttered, moving up to us. "How the hell does he get so much done?"

"He's used to one-man bars," I explained, drinking more from my glass. "He's always been popular."

The man nodded, turning and starting to mix a glass. "It feels like he's outdoing me."

I laughed. "He hasn't had a job that he really likes since we left Deniel."

"When was that?"

"About a decade ago," I muttered, blinking several times. "Nine years or so."

The man turned to meet my eyes. "Right before her Majesty assumed the throne?"

I smirked at him. "It was, wasn't it…"

He flushed, thinking. "It was intentional, then, wasn't it?"

"We had some issues in Deniel," I shrugged. "Things weren't going so hot then."

"You had involvement with the syndicates," the guy noted, considering the information. "You've said so on television."

"Like I said, issues," I shrugged.

"Come on, Fredrico, get back to work," Wufei muttered as he moved passed the guy.

"Crap," Enrico jumped up and started down the bar with an apology thrown at me over his shoulder.

"I'm almost ready to go," I muttered to the Chinese man. "How much longer will you be?"

"I don't need an escort anymore, Quatre," Wufei noted as he mixed up a drink in front of me. "You can leave at your leisure."

I set my glass down hard so he looked up to me. "That's not what I meant."

He shrugged slightly at me, moving away again.

I shook my head slightly as Jacob moved up beside me again. When he'd left was beyond me, but he was definitely back. He studied my face a moment, then sighed. "We should go."

"I was just asking Wufei when he thought he'd be done."

"What'd he say?"

"He doesn't need an escort."

Jacob blinked at me several times, then looked down the bar where our friend was mixing another drink.

"He's having fun," I added quietly, finishing off my drink. "He hasn't been able to work in years…at least not at what he likes to do. I'm ready if you are."

"Where's Keith?" my friend turned to look over the dance-floor, then spotted the guy moving up to us.

"There he is," I noted helpfully.

Jacob snorted and smacked me, watching Keith as he gave us curious looks.

"We're just about ready," Jacob explained. "You?"

Keith moved between us and slammed his hand on the bar—it wasn't the normal practice of the place, so it was attention getting.

"You ready to blow or not?" Keith demanded when Wufei joined us.

Wufei smirked at him, bit his lip as he considered the question, then looked around at Enrico and made a curious gesture.

"You're ditchin' out on me?" Enrico demanded as he neared us. "Why?"

"My friends are ready to leave," Fei explained. "I'll miss my ride if I don't."

"I can take you back."

"But you can't get clearance onto the grounds, and Duo might get annoyed if he has to come out."

"Duo?"

"Maxwell," Wufei agreed. "Security."

"Oh yeah," Enrico frowned slightly, thinking. "I forgot about that bit of it all."

"If you want to…stay over, though…" Wufei's tone got extremely sly. "I mean, I don't mind helping you out, and if you just come up with me, no one will question you."

The guy actually considered the question, then remembered who he was talking to. It was obvious by the look he suddenly cast my friend.

"You coulda done better than that," Ace noted, raising an eyebrow. "What's with the half-assed?"

Wufei snickered, studying the guy a moment before shaking his head almost imperceptibly. He looked back to his…attempt. "I do have an entire apartment, and you could tour the grounds…"

"Try and be subtle some time, Fei," I grumbled. "Might do you wonders."

"Oh god, Quatre," Wufei muttered, turning to give me a disgusted look. "I'm not _really_ trying to seduce the man. Jesus, you'd think all my intentions were sexual…"

"You were just…" I started.

"Offering to let a friend check out my house," Wufei snapped, annoyed. "Why do you always think the worst of me?"

Keith snickered slightly. "You _know_ why…you know _exactly_ why…"

Enrico, who'd been watching us talk with interest, focused on Wufei with an obvious wariness.

"I've gotta go," Wufei added, offering his hand. "Thanks for the entertainment tonight, I hope it's not too bad for you here."

"It's died down," the man agreed, shaking the hand easily. "I'll catch you some other time, maybe take you up on the offer for a visit when it doesn't involve you and a bed."

Wufei laughed good-naturedly at the words, then pulled off the apron and gave it to the guy. "I'll catch you around some time."

"Night, thanks for the help…I'll let you know when my sister comes to town."

"Great," Wufei agreed with evilly sparkling eyes. "Hopefully it's not too long, or I might end up making some…other…request."

Enrico winked at him, then moved off down the bar.

"That was fun," Wufei noted, vaulting the bar and landing beside me to stretch and pop his neck. "God I feel better."

"Why didn't you really try?" Keith asked as we started enmasse for the door. "You were telling me last time…"

Wufei smirked. "He'll let his guard down when talking to me from now on. The fact that it's not all _really_ about sex with me will make him more likely to hang out."

"You still said…"

"Ace, please," Wufei muttered, glancing sidelong at me pointedly.

Keith shook his head.

I looked to Jacob with a raised eyebrow and he avoided my eyes entirely…so what did I miss?

Or, more pressingly, did I really want to bother finding out?


	3. Chapter 3

**chapter Three**

"I stand firm on my decision," I muttered quietly to Tomé, who was following on my heels.

"It wasn't even _your_ decision!" Tomé protested. "You blinked at me, and Maxwell said no. You just shrugged and refused!"

"He's my advisor," I shrugged indifferently. Most people in the court knew that when left to my own devices, Duo's opinions matched mine in the end anyway. Very few even bothered to comment on the fact that Duo'd just decided a matter of state anymore; it was nice, actually. If I wasn't in the mood to play king…well, I only played half-king anyway.

"_Advisor_!" Tomé agreed. "_You_ are the king!"

The words took a moment for me to fully comprehend, and I turned on him in disbelief. "And _as_ your king, I _refuse_ you!"

The guy stopped as well, blinking.

"Duo has been my closest friend since I was _fifteen_," I snapped. "He was raised on the streets and thinks that _moment_ faster than I do. I _trust_ him with my life, my _wife's_ life…and my _children_. Do _not_ offend him."

"I apologize, majesty," the guy muttered bowing low. "I meant no real offense."

"Of course," I agreed, still angry as I watched as the man bow again and storm away. Not a lot to do about it when you pissed off your monarch…

"Was that _my_ bad?" Duo asked, moving around the corner he'd hid behind when the man had started to leave.

"Yes," I informed him mildly. "Yes, it was."

- -

"I hate when politicians make fools of themselves," I muttered, scanning the times and halls of the previous day's recordings. I found the one I wanted, finally, looking back to the runner. "Especially when it ends up embarrassing them."

"I fail to see your point," the man noted.

"You will, unless you're blind," I agreed. I removed the disc from the case and led the man to one of the many televisions in the central monitoring room. "Tomé sent you to me to warn me he's lodging a complaint about the personal safety of the king?"

The man nodded.

"I'm sure he was raving," I added, cuing up the video as the man's volatile nature came to my mind again, "about the king alone in a dark corridor where _any_one could be waiting."

"In a nutshell," the man agreed, focusing on the screen.

"And then," I continued, pausing the video as Heero and Tomé moved into the hall. "He managed to forget that Heero was a guerilla warrior in the war, and that we lived in _Deniel_."

That gave the guy pause.

"And _then_ the fact that I am personally in charge of the safety of the royal family." I hit the play button.

The tape showed Heero and Tomé walking down the hall, with me a short distance behind them. When the men stopped, I leaned against a wall a respectable distance behind my king.

The runner blinked.

The argument escalated to Heero's annoyance, and I stepped around the corner to an adjacent hall. Tomé stormed away from the king, and when he was gone, I swung back out into the main corridor.

"I'd give you the audio," I noted, "but they were discussing a matter of state, and what we were saying would probably offend you."

The man, who'd been staring wide-eyed, bowed quickly…and basically _ran_.

I looked back to the tape in mild amusement as it showed us smacking at each other's faces. I turned my head to the monarch himself. "And that's _your_ bad."

"How is that _my_ bad?" Heero protested, moving from his dark corner to watch me remove the disc from the player. "It's not necessary for everyone to _see_ my protection."

"I _told_ you, Heero," I muttered, replacing the disc in its file. "The people like to know the monarchs they know and love are being cared for. You let me place ceremonial guards at Relena's side…and your baby-girl's side, but…_you_ need someone visual—and _not_ me. I'm too much of a politician anymore."

"So you figure out how you can tell me my answers without everyone noticing it, and I'll let you put a little toy at my side."

I gave him a long narrow look.

Heero sniggered. "Come on, you _know_ that's how you think of them—you'd put some pretty little boy who'd pleased you with me to honor him."

"I'm a married man, Heero," I reminded him, rolling my eyes; even though my stomach had churned.

Heero guffawed. "Now why would you imagine I was saying _anything_ about the state of your marriage, sir knight?"

I focused on him sharply, more anger than embarrassment surfacing.

"Okay," Heero reassured me quickly. "I know you still love her—but you changed that time you were gone…a lot."

"Can we _not_ talk about this?" I asked abruptly, turning and starting for the door to the room. I didn't want to think over the two years I'd ran the world on my own…

"…And," Heero concluded before I could actually leave, "if you honestly expect me to believe that you've only been having sex with Nira for the last five or six years, I'm going to laugh in your face and be offended that you think so little of me."

I stood stiffly for a moment, then stalked toward the hallway.

"The lord forgives all sin, Michael," Heero called half-mockingly. "And you taste like peaches."

I walked away.

- -

"Are you mad at me?"

"What?" I asked Duo blankly, looking up from the magazine to meet his eyes as he closed the door behind himself.

"Did I piss you off?"

"Usually," I agreed, tilting my head at him. "I'm too pregnant and hormone ridden to follow this one, love." I extended an arm to him.

He came and sat with me, pouting at the television a moment before meeting my eyes.

"What's wrong?" I muttered, climbing onto his lap. "You look all petulant…"

"I was just down with Heero in the observation room," he explained. "Tomé decided I wasn't protecting him and was going to lodge a formal complaint."

"That's retarded," I noted, petting his hair.

"I showed the runner the vid of what happened and he took off…"

"That can't be what has you upset," I accused. "That doesn't explain why you think I'm mad at you."

"Do you think I cheat on you?" he asked sincerely, his eyes vulnerable.

"Cheat on me?" I asked blankly, thinking about that. "Why would you cheat on me?"

He shook his head, frowning more.

"I see you eyeing some of your recruits," I teased, "but you'd tell me if you lost it and fucked someone, wouldn't you?"

He nodded.

"So why would I be worried about you cheating on me?"

"Heero just…" he looked down. "I was trying to get him to let me stand someone with him and he muttered I'd just put some pretty boy with him."

"Someone who obeys and makes the king look good," I agreed, tilting my head. "That's generally how it works, right?"

He smiled slightly at me and shrugged. "He said I'd just put some little boy who'd pleased me with him."

"To an extent," I agreed in amusement.

This, evidently, did not help him feel better.

He grinned at my comment and shook his head again, looking toward the windows. "He brought it up again…"

"Why are they all over you again?" I snapped, sitting up properly to glare toward the main of the building. "You've been living here happily for years now…we _have_ a daughter…come _on_…"

"Heero said he doesn't think I've only been with you," he explained. "He said he'd laugh in my face if I expected him to believe it."

I stared at him in disbelief.

He looked away from my eyes, waiting.

"I see," I muttered, sliding my feet off the couch. "I understand."

"You haven't been…"

"Until about two seconds ago the thought had never crossed my mind," I returned, studying him. "What did you do?"

"What are you talking about?" he protested. "I didn't _do_ anything."

"No, Michael," I returned, watching him flinch slightly. "You did something that has them all worried about you. _What_ did you do?"

He met my eyes.

"You've been running around doing _something_ for weeks now."

"I was shopping for…"

"Don't _lie_ to me," I retorted irritably. "I'm pregnant with _your_ child, don't _lie_ to me. What did you _do_?"

"I took Wufei to see Jun," he muttered without looking at me—mumbled would be more correct. His specific words weren't there, just the main sounds of them.

"What?" I asked levelly.

"I _took_ Wufei to see _Jun_ when Jun got _out_, okay?" he snapped, shoving me properly onto the couch as he moved to start pacing.

"You took Wufei to see Jun?" I echoed in disbelief. "Are you insane?"

"Evidently," he snapped. "Wufei said I was like that again."

I snorted, giving him a look.

He glowered at me, pacing across the apartment irritably.

That explained why they were all so wary of him again.

"What did you do to Wufei?" I asked dryly. He had to have _done_ something that made the others believe what Wufei would rant about. Wufei had to have some proof to get them all to stop putting up blinders.

"Nira…" he hesitated, then walked over to look out over the courtyard. He sighed, looking toward the ground a long moment before turning his head very slightly. "I raped Jun."

"What?" I demanded, rising to my feet in disbelief—after everything he was saying… "You just _told_ me…"

"Not _now_," he snapped, focusing on me angrily. "I did it before…when he was fucking with Wufei."

I stared at him in relieved disbelief.

"I told Fei," he added, looking back out the windows. "He told Relena and Heero…and Heero decided to believe him."

I moved across the room to stand near him, not meeting his eyes. When he'd been trying to find Keith initially, I'd heard tales about him and the things he'd do, how he'd had no qualms about anything and just as many people were scared of him as pursued him. He'd been a legend in a society that didn't really exist, and at the time nothing said about him surprised me.

Hearing it now bothered me extremely.

"That…that's why they're all over me again," he muttered, studying the trees. "That's why they've been on me again about this shit…but if you haven't been talking to Relena…why would he think I'm cheating?" he met my eyes in confusion.

I shrugged at him. "Until you were acting all nervous," I pointed at the couch, "I never thought it."

He grinned a bit impishly at that and shook his head, looking out the windows. "I thought I'd proved myself to them."

"I think you proved yourself stable to your post," I noted. "I think the fact that you slip with Wufei and he tells them makes them all very nervous that you'll start doing your old shit."

"That was two years," he noted, meeting my eyes again. "I've been here for twice that long…"

"Not to bring up troubled times," I noted, moving to grab his wrist, "but you up and left them before she was even buried."

He looked away.

"You disappeared for two years, Duo," I reminded him. "You just vanished…I still don't think you've mourned her yet…you showed up once for their wedding—basically you showed them you're responsible for your posts, but…you hurt them…badly."

He closed his eyes.

"I believe they understood why you did it," I pressed, moving into his arm. "But I think telling Wufei like that was a bad idea."

"He said it…I just stopped arguing it."

"Hm," I rubbed my belly slightly, which had his arms instantly around me. "It'll be all right," I reassured him. "I'll talk to Relena and Hilde…they'll talk to Heero and Tro…just bear with the skepticism."

He nodded again.

"And if worst comes to worst," I added, pulling back to meet his eyes, "I'm not going to leave you for fucking someone out of wedlock, huh? I might bitch at you about it, but I won't leave you for it."

"Don't give me _permission_," he spat, turning away from me, then sighed. "I need to get back to work…you getting Ash today or am I?"

"I'd appreciate it if you could," I noted. "I have an appointment at two and she gets out at two fifteen."

"All right," he muttered, glancing to his watch. "Love you…see you later."

I smiled in return, watching him leave the apartment.

…something told me I was in for a _very_ long week.

- -

"It's just…so _stupid_," Tomé half snarled at Jun as they sat together at a bar. "It was bad enough that he just showed _up_, but now he's _controlling_ the king."

"Maxwell is tricksm," Jun muttered quietly, studying the man with interest. "He should be removed from power."

Tomé's eyes flared to life as he focused on Jun with interest.

Jun smiled slightly at him, running a hand through his hair.

"He _has_ to be doing _something_ illegal," the politician muttered, focusing on his own reflection in the mirror.

Illegal?

Jun frowned slightly as the man obviously started thinking about something.

"Scandal," Tomé breathed, looking around to Jun again. "If I could find a sweet little girl to set up as his intern…"

The two weeks Jun had been out of prison had given him time to start exploring his resources…finding out who was still loyal to him after seven years of bullshit and who had defected…who of the defectors could be strategically killed off.

He really wanted Maxwell _dead_.

Jun allowed his focus to wander as he considered that pleasant prospect…Maxwell standing with him and blatantly threatening him with Wufei behind him…Wufei…

His mind wandered to the Chinese man as he considered how the rounding of his arm suggested the muscles were still present…

"Don't you think?"

Jun focused on the man sharply, blinking several times. "What?"

Tomé stared at him in disbelief.

"What?" Jun persisted, shaking his head. "What are you on about?"

"Oh, nevermind," Tomé retorted irritably, setting a bill on the countertop. "I don't need your help."

"Help?" Jun asked sweetly.

They studied each other a long moment in silence before Tomé shook his head and looked the bar over. "I shouldn't be seen with you. If we meet up again it has to be in private."

Jun made an amused noise, grinning at the man.

Tomé turned and started walking away.

- -

"…Get that to me, and I have this urge," I muttered, looking up from my file to my secretary. "For some reason I'm dying to know what the Armenian ambassador had for brunch."

"Brunch?" she asked, giving me a very level look.

"Or breakfast," I agreed easily. "Get that to me as soon as you can."

"Yes, sir," she muttered with a sigh and rolled eyes.

I watched her walk from the room before looking back to the file in front of me with a sigh.

Being the minister of interior was a flashy title, but what it really meant was I got to play with spies, and it wasn't some little fun game…my rank wasn't only for Sanq. My resources weren't only the resources of the kingdom. I was lucky enough to have rank in the alliance, too…which meant I had a _lot_ more players under me than the little kingdom I helped run.

My vid beeped and I reached over without looking up, clicking the flashing button. Normally, it was one of the guys on the line…

"Winner."

I looked up at Sally Poe, blinking at her.

"I have some information for you. Are you secure?"

"I'd imagine," I noted. "This is a secure line."

She gave me a look—she didn't like that I had rank over her, but she _was_ the one who decided to switch professions.

"Swathe seems to be on the move again," she added. "Since they let out the leader old officers have been dying off. It was all well and good for you to chase them out of Sanq, but you should have crushed them."

"Hind-sight is twenty-twenty," I agreed, tilting my head at her. "Was that your holy information?"

"No, there was a pretty boy that was being trained up in L-3."

"L-3 seems to be a hotspot for dissention," I noted, shifting back in my seat. "What's so special about pretty-boy blue?"

"He's had your training."

I stopped, looking to the screen again.

"He's had your king's training…he's had _Duo's_ training."

"Gundams?" I asked, losing heart.

"No…but he's mastered the Aries."

"Shit, any little kid could master an Aries," I retorted. "I'm pretty sure _Lex_ has mastered an Aries."

"Be that as it may…I mean the hand to hand shit you five learned. It's not kid's stuff, Winner. He's another assassin."

"You'd be amazed how many of those I know," I muttered, thinking of Ace and Heero.

Assassins weren't the face cards of the deck. Assassin's were the deuce…all shapes and sizes, and not all that rare…or worth much.

"Don't _dismiss_ this," she snapped.

"I'm not dismissing it," I retorted irritably. "You seem interested in him…keep an eye on him."

"We lost him."

I looked back to the screen, narrowing my eyes at her.

"That's why I brought it up," she snapped. "They sent him to Earth on a transport and we never even found which one he was _in_."

"So _find_ him," I ordered in aggravation. "What's his motivation? Why did you associate him with Swathe?"

"Tomé was spotted with Jun Martin," she noted. "Last night."

"Yes, and they talked about creating a scandal around Duo so he lost power."

She blinked at me.

I shook my head, rolling my eyes. Tomé's confronting Heero, then trying to get Duo in trouble had made him a person of at least minor interest. I'd had an agent following him around.

"It's nothing serious."

"But…blue-boy moved…right after."

"Sally," I muttered with a sigh, "we have Jun's phones _tapped_. We have everyone we need in protection and we're working on getting the others to safety. The ones who are getting killed off are the ones who decided to evade the government. Unless you have solid proof that blue-boy is doing anything for Jun, I don't see why I should freak out about him. What's one more assassin?"

"That's a rather…" she started, then trailed off and frowned at me.

"I'll get some agents earth-side to help you, all right? Find the assassin and apprehend him as soon as he _litters_."

"All right," she muttered, looking down.

"Oh, I want to talk to him," I reassured her with a slight smile. "I want to see what type of guerilla he is…chatty, strategic, stoic, or prideful."

She met my eyes again.

"Start your search and I'll get you my agents."

"Yes, sir," she muttered, obviously feeling better about it all.

I disconnected with her and hit the auto-button for my organizer.

"Yo," Reiko muttered, looking to me with interest in his dark eyes…for about three seconds before looking back to a magazine in his hands.

"Get four agents to Poe."

"Alignment?"

"Paladin."

He stopped, looking up to me.

I grinned at the guy and rolled my eyes. "Earth officers, but not citizens."

"Right," he muttered, focusing back on the thing. "I'll get right on it."

"What are you looking at?" I demanded, raising an eyebrow at him.

He focused on me and gave me a very level look before turning the magazine to show me an image of a scantily clad woman doing something novel with a glass bottle.

"Cheap ass," I muttered with a snort, "get the new issue," and I disconnected.

- -

"Basically," Jacob added tiredly, "he's stuck on coming as close to on time as he can. I think he doesn't want to be around home to mourn."

I nodded tiredly at that.

"I…conceded," he added, his blue eyes looking tired.

I could remember a time when he was all sparkle an pizzazz, where if you looked at him just right he'd shudder very slightly and his eyes would tell you a story…when he hadn't been burdened down with all the affairs of state.

"What?" he asked tiredly, rubbing at his eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You changed," I returned.

"I grew up," he retorted, glaring at me. "I was up last night…I need to sleep."

I nodded at that as he rose to his feet. "I think you're depressed."

"I think I work a nine to five that I was never trained for or never expected to work," he retorted. "This was a lot more flashy when I was young and was a _knight_."

"You _are_ a knight," I noted, tilting my head at him. "You're a depressed knight."

He grinned, giving me a look.

"Just go talk to a shrink, huh? I miss the old you."

That made him stop to look at me in disbelief.

"Charisma and charm," I noted. "You twisted everyone around your finger."

"I can't do that in this job," he reminded me.

I grinned at him and shrugged. "You know it's been the last week that you've been getting down…does this shit with the ambassador really bother you that much?"

"I want to take the man aside and slap him across the face," he noted, blinking at me in a way that suggested eminent sleep. "It's hard to do that in any official capacity."

"Go to bed," I muttered. "Go sleep it off."

He laughed slightly at that and wandered away.

"I just want three chairs added to the table," Selena snapped into her earpiece as she moved into the office. "Just set them by…I'm aware," she added, then stopped. "Do you have any idea _who_ I _am_?"

I raised my eyebrows at her.

She guffawed in complete disbelief, storming forward to toss the folder she was carrying at me. "I am Selena _Maxwell_, not some intern!"

That name did carry weight, didn't it?

I pulled the folder to me, tilting my head slightly at her.

"Yeah, of _course_ you're sorry," she snapped, giving me a look of commiserating annoyance as she shook her head. "Of _course_ you'll add three chairs…no problems, no problems at all."

I sniggered at that.

She rolled her eyes, running a hand over her belly. "Right…yeah…uh-huh. Bye."

I could hear the person trying to protest that one as she hit a button the cell-phone clipped to the belt that encircled her waist. She gave me the look that suggested an angry outburst…and burst into tears.

I hopped to my feet, moving around the desk instantly to pull her into a hug.

…for some reason, I _got_ pregnant women. I _understood_ the hormones that made most other guys shy away in fear. I didn't ask her what was wrong, I just let her cry it out.

"That's…the seating change," she added to me when she'd regained herself, wiping at her eyes. "I'm waiting to see if Sudan wants to add another chair or not…I'll know before five."

I kissed her forehead.

She smiled up at me, then smacked me as she started to laugh.

"Go home and wait for the call," I suggested, moving her hair out of her face. "Go lay on your bed with the phone volume up so it actually wakes you up."

"Mr. Trowa!" she protested.

I sniggered at that, moving around the desk to flick the folder open.

We were having a formal dinner to celebrate Faye's seventh birthday, which was September seventeenth. The heir to the Sanq throne would attend for the first hour or two until she decided she was bored, and then Duo would herd the entire covey of miniatures back to the royal apartments where they would…do something that I didn't get to do, because I had to attend the entire dinner.

Sometimes I was jealous of Duo…but then again, he was going to have three seven year olds and two fourteen year olds.

I probably wouldn't even get Hilde the entire time, either, because she was due about a week after the birthday, and if our first son set a precedent, then she'd have our second son a day or two before Faye's party.

"You're impossible," Selena added, flicking my hair affectionately before rising somewhat slowly to her feet and starting toward the door. "I'll let you know what Sudan says as soon as I can," she added. "Even if it is just me calling you from upstairs."

"It's no bother," I reassured her. "Get Duo to massage you and we'll be fine."

She smiled at that and sighed as she started off.

I got points for that, right? Or did the points I had from Duo get negated?

So the real question was, who did I want to please more? The husband or the wife? Women the world over made the world a brighter place, but Duo was Duo, and Mr. Sunlight-in-Stars could make my life a living hell if my total accruement got too low…

Dear lord, I was keeping score.

- -

"It's like a circus!" Heero concluded irritably to me as water sloshed down the outside of the rather round glass he was holding…and the thing slid from his hand. He made a grab for it, but missed, succeeding in making it fly further away and the water in it to fly across the floor.

I started sniggering.

"Shut-up!" he ordered, embarrassed as he studied the now shattered glass and looked around his office a moment. Finally, he stopped and looked up to me again.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"You pick it up," he pointed at the shards with a little dismissive shake of his hand.

"Nuh-uh, butterfingers," I returned, folding my hands behind my head. "Nothin' doin'."

"You swore fealty to me," he retorted.

"I swore fealty, not house-keeping," I agreed, giving him a look.

"Just…get a broom," he protested, looking around to point in the general area of the janitor's closet. There was one just up the hall.

I gave him another look, then rolled my eyes and moved from the room. It only took me a moment to pick up a roll of paper-towels and dustpan…and hand-held broom. I took the implements back with me to the office, where he was still standing in the same spot I'd left him.

He was giving me a skeptical look, and had good reason to.

I shoved the broom and dustpan his hands.

"What am I gonna do with these?" he protested, looking at them as if he had no idea what they were.

"You're gonna clean your own damn mess, majesty," I retorted…and turned lo leave the room.

"Get back here!" he sounded amused. "Get back here, now!"

"I'll see you later," I returned, smiling sweetly at him and saluting him with the paper-towels, which I set on the couch I had to pass to get to the doors.

"Knight!"

"King!"

"Come clean it!"

I gave him a look, and shut the door behind myself.

I could already hear him laughing.

A passing intern or something slowed to give me a confused look.

I smiled at the man as Heero called my name pathetically. "What?"

He frowned more, looking toward the royal office.

"Even the king has to clean up after himself," I informed the guy sagely, starting down the hall happily.

"Duo…" Heero wailed, pulling the door open…to look at the man who was standing there and blinking at him.

"Yes?" I asked happily.

"Hold that thought," he returned, then pointed at the passer-by. "Wanna do me a favor?"

"Anything, majesty," he muttered, moving forward quickly and eagerly.

I started laughing.

- -

"Hey, minister," I muttered into my cell-phone. "I wouldn't want to pry you away from your duties to the king for the world, but we have someone out here who's asking for you."

"Asking for me?" Duo asked. "By what name?"

"Tailor, Michael, Cat…Duo…I think he said asshole at one point."

Duo hesitated.

Jesse Fallon had his arms crossed over his chest as he stood with his back against the guard-booth.

Our jobs were fairly straight forward. I was in charge of national defense, and Duo was in charge of national security. He dealt more with protecting government officials, and I dealt with patrolling our borders. We were both in charge of the soldiers, but we'd gained plenty of solid and dependable men back when we'd taken Deniel, so that was delegated nicely amongst our favorites.

Duo, however, had been in a meeting with the king, and when someone had come to the gates trying to get clearance, the only person any of them could think of was me.

"You wanna come out here for this," I added, studying the man with interest.

Jesse pushed way from the booth, starting to open his mouth.

I held a finger up to keep him from talking.

"Who is it?"

"A ghost of the past," I returned, snapping the phone closed.

"It's only been seven years, Fei-fei," he protested at me. "Hardly ghostly."

I grinned slightly at him, moving to lean against the guard booth beside him and look up to the sky.

"Can't you clear me?" he asked, tilting his head at me.

"Just wait for the minister," I ordered without sounding too familiar. "It won't take him five minutes to get down here."

He fell silent, looking me over.

I smiled slightly at him, then nodded at the guard who was standing in the door and looking between us. "Go park his car in the garage," I ordered.

"That's not my job," he started to protest.

"_Go_ park his car in the _garage_, soldier," I snapped.

He opened his mouth, then looked to Jesse before sighing and extending one hand for the keys that Jesse promptly passed to him.

I watched the car drive away, then looked to the man who'd driven me down in one of our little carts that we used to get to the gates. "Retrieve him," I ordered. "Then return to your post."

"Yes, sir," he muttered, turning to 'speed' off after the car.

"Really?" Jesse asked with interest.

"The statute of limitations is eight years, Jesse," I returned, not looking at him. "If you're really here, you're really under arrest."

"Damn, I knew I had the date wrong," he muttered, leaning against the hut again…as a second little speeder came down and stopped and Duo jumped off it with worried eyes.

Jesse stepped forward to look at the man.

Duo stared at him a long moment in disbelief before moving quickly to him and hugging him tightly.

"Let's get back to the apartments," I muttered, pushing away from the hut as the first speeder reappeared. "We can hang out in one of them until sunset."

"Yeah," Duo agreed, turning back to our cart. "Let's do that."

- -

E/N: Mm, reviews would be appreciated?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Duo gestured with his head once for me to follow, not even waiting for my response before disappearing down the hall.

I hesitated a moment, then saved what I'd been working on and closing out of my computer.

"Majesty?" the man I'd been talking with asked.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, meeting his eyes. "I lost track of time, there's something I need to do."

He frowned at me, then nodded as he rose. "My apologies…"

I grinned at him, grabbing my jacket as I wondered what Duo needed me for. I hesitated in the door-jamb as the man quickly gathered his things and moved to exit the office quickly. I smiled at him, shaking his hand—I got along with him, and the reason our discussions could get so off track that I would _lose_ track of time was because we muttered to each other about everything short of personal relationships. As soon as I made the extra effort, he'd be a real friend, but that wasn't my issue.

"I'll…call you later," I muttered, looking to my watch. "We can finish up over the phone or you could come up to the apartment."

He looked almost stunned.

Okay…so the extra effort was painless.

"Later," I muttered, then darted off after Duo.

It didn't matter that we were all thirty-two or thirty-three, because in the end, we'd always be the boys we had been during the wars. We'd never lose those mannerisms that had created an unbeatable team. One of us needed the others, and we came.

So what if it was usually Duo anymore…

"Should we head up to the apartments?" Quatre muttered as he joined me, looking around the hall with expectant eyes.

"Probably," Trowa agreed.

"Where's Fei?" I asked, looking in the direction of the training ground.

"What do you mean I need to just shut up and obey you?" Jacob was demanded in amusement as Duo half-chased him from another hall.

Duo looked to us all, then nodded once.

We exchanged another look, then followed him.

"Oh," Jacob muttered quietly. "One of _these_."

"These?" I asked, falling into step with my brother as I glanced to the guy.

"Yep, these," Jacob echoed, moving to walk behind Quatre as I realized we were in a phalanx formation.

"What these?" I protested.

"You should cross the training grounds," Jacob added happily to Duo. "We're in perfect formation and not quite marching."

Duo turned an impish grin on him as we swept toward the royal wing.

"What I mean by these," Jacob added when we'd actually moved into the area and Duo was heading toward my apartment, "is these nice little instances when you five have a hive-mind going on and expect me to share it."

"If you'd just _think_ about it a second, you'd have it, too," Quatre noted.

We moved up the stairs in my apartment, then into the upper hallway where Duo hesitated between his apartment, and Wufei's. It was only a brief instant before he chose his own apartment.

So Wufei was waiting for us.

Actually, when my knight had reappeared…with my other knight, heh, I'd assumed Wufei was waiting somewhere.

We all moved into Duo's apartment, focusing on him curiously…as I noticed someone sitting with Wufei on the couch.

"Holy shit."

- -

"Daddy said they're up in Duo's apartment," I muttered to Lea as I moved close to my friend again and our bodyguard Tad looked between us. "I guess they got Mom to pick up the girls and Dusty. They sent the limo for us."

She smirked slightly at me.

"Alex! Mar!" We turned, Tad with a hand on his pistol, to Nicholas as he came down the stairs leading to our school and hopped beside us with glowing eyes…ignoring our bodyguard. "Hi."

"Hey," I returned, grinning slightly as Tad rolled his eyes and focused on someone else.

Tad really kept us from being _startled_.

"Nick!" Sammy called, bouncing up beside us cutely.

Marlea gave her a very level look as Tad _really_ rolled his eyes and went back to his vigil.

"Hey, Samantha," Nicholas muttered, frowning slightly at her. He hesitated, then looked to the gate. "There's my dad," he noted, moving around us. "I'll call you later," he added to me.

"All right," I returned, watching him bounce away.

Sammy huffed as he slid into his father's SUV.

Oh, he _hadn't_ asked her out? No, that couldn't be it, he must've just forgotten.

I grinned at the female as Tad gave me a curious look. The man communicated in small expression I swear. I shook my head very slightly and he grinned as he looked away again.

"I'll call you guys later, too," she noted, frowning between us…as the limo pulled into the driveway and almost everyone stopped to watch it. It might be a school for rich kids, but most had some form of caretaker in some form of a nice car to get them when their parents…frequently…didn't pick them up.

"There's our ride," Lea noted to me happily, starting down the stairs.

"Don't you dare," I snapped, studying the driver. "You know Tio Duo would freak if we just hopped in."

"I got it," Tad reassured us, bouncing down the stairs himself.

"Tio?" Sammy asked blankly. "What the hell are you talking?"

"It means _uncle_, Sammy," Lea muttered with a roll of her eyes. "It's this language called _Spanish_, and it happens that half of Lex's heritage stems from the country below the United States."

I snickered, shoving at my cousin.

"Sir Maxwell's not even your real uncle," Sammy retorted.

"Because all relationships only rely on blood," I agreed sarcastically as Tad waved the okay to us and moved to pull the back door open. "The others are the closest things to family my dad has, and my Abuela, which means 'grandmother', is the only person I care to deal with on my mother's side."

"Sucks coming from a broken home, doesn't it?" Sammy asked dryly.

"I'm sure you'd be the expert," I retorted, and moved down to do as my guard commanded.

Sammy laughed like it was a joke she appreciated.

"Come on, Lea," I added darkly. "_Tio **Heero**_ sent the limo to fetch us."

The name took only a second to register on Sammy's face, and Lea grinned as she waved happily at the girl…and bounced along after me.

- -

"So I roamed Armenia for a while, then started syndicate jumping," Jesse mused. "I have a position in most of the ones you chased out…except Jaded." He sighed. "I miss Jaded."

"You miss being in charge," I retorted, grinning slightly at him. "There's a difference."

"I miss being able to kill off the ones who are dangerous," he shrugged.

I nodded.

"That's cold blooded," Quatre informed us both with raised eyebrows.

"What?" I asked blankly.

"You miss being able to kill off threats."

I nodded again, not sure I what he was getting at.

Trowa sniggered.

"Honey, I'm home," Lex called as she bounced into the apartment…and stopped completely as she looked at her once uncle.

Jesse sat up, his eyes going wide as he studied her…and then Lea moved into the room.

The girls, I realized, were gorgeous…perfect light and perfect dark. You could see intelligence in their eyes and they weren't suffering from teenage angst…yet. They carried themselves with a personal pride, no shame in either of them…and they were very much Quatre and Trowa's daughters.

I grinned, glancing toward the still open door.

Tad was standing at attention, and saluted me from his formal stance.

I grinned in return at the bodyguard and saluted him, making the dismissed gesture. He nodded and re-saluted me before disappearing.

"Uncle Jesse!" Alex was squeaking, having darted across the room with her cousin on her heels as Jesse started laughing and cooing over how big they both were.

It was nice to talk to Jesse again, but we all knew very well that we were still supposed to arrest him for the next…seven months or so. The actual dates were a bit messy since it'd been after the Deniel campaign that they'd put the warrant, or whatever you want to call it, on Jesse's head.

The only reason Jun had been released early was good behavior and expensive lawyers. If Heero or Relena cleared Jesse just like that, it'd cause an uproar, especially from the syndicate leaders we still had.

I watched as Jesse turned amazed looks onto Trowa and Quatre and wondered what he'd think of _my_ daughter.

"You girls have a good day?" Trowa asked after a while…which had both girls sitting on either side of Jesse and beaming at the rest of us.

"Normally that opens a floodgate about Nicholas," I noted, smirking slightly.

They reacted in disbelief, gasping their shock at me as Wufei reached over and hit me.

"Nicholas?" Jesse asked, looking from one to the other. "You girls realize you're not supposed to _share_, right?"

Alex died laughing as Marlea blushed and smacked him…even Q was groaning for that one.

I grinned at them innocently as Jesse gave them both the same sort of innocent look.

- -

"Take care," I muttered seriously to Jesse as I studied the parking tower over quietly. "Remember. Don't come back until January. Follow every law and get your ass across that border. If the authorities catch you, we'll have to arrest you and detain you and all sorts of things that you'll find unpleasant."

"I know," Jesse reassured me with a grin. "I'm sorry I was early."

"We told you to wait eight years," I retorted. "We made sure that it was printed in the newspapers so you'd _see_ it."

"Associated Press," he agreed with a roll of his eyes. "I figured I could come see you, blondie, I thought it'd be fine."

"It's not good for you to be here," I muttered with a sigh, leaning in to hug him slightly. "Get you gone."

He snorted at that, turning his engine on and nodding at me as I stepped backwards…and drove away.

I shook my head a bit, glancing at the camera not far away before starting back into the building.

It was good to know he was still alive with all the death reports we were getting for some of our wanted syndicate bags…for those people who'd gotten out of Sanq before we'd found them.

I just hoped he stayed _alive_ until January.

- -

"Something doesn't feel right."

I watched with interest as Alex and Marlea moved down the hall and stopped.

"We should…" Lea indicated a side hall.

"No," Alex muttered. "If we go anywhere, it's back."

Lea frowned, thinking a moment. "Is that wise?"

"If we just go running through the halls we could get lost and back ourselves in a corner," Alex retorted.

"But if they're following us, they'll probably have people behind us and waiting where we're going."

"So the question becomes which way has less," Alex noted.

I grinned slightly.

"Wufei," Quatre snapped irritably at me. Trowa was standing on the other side of me with his arms crossed, and we were in the monitoring room.

"Logically, they won't expect us to freak," Lea mused, thinking a moment. "Duo always says to call him when shit comes down."

"Oops, turned my phone off," Duo noted, clicking a button.

I flicked mine off as well as Trowa hesitated and did his own.

"Quatre, come on," Duo muttered. "We want to see what they'll do."

"No answer," Lea noted.

"Not my dad, either," Lex agreed.

Quatre turned his phone off.

"Chances are they're watching us," Lex noted, closing her phone and looking to the camera. "So what would Duo do?"

"Duo would go on with it and kick their asses," Lea retorted.

Duo sniggered.

"They've got _you_ pegged," I noted to the male.

"Hey, when you got it, you got it," he shrugged innocently.

"What would Wufei do?" Lex countered.

"Assess the situation," Lea returned.

"We did that."

"So he'd act on his assessment," Lea tilted her head at her cousin. "I think standing here like bumps on a log is a bad idea."

"Tio," Alex whined at the cameras.

"That works," Duo noted sardonically, rolling his eyes.

"That works," Lea muttered in almost the same tone.

I sniggered.

"Well, really," Lex grumped, considering things again. "Basically, we can't go forward, and we probably shouldn't go backwards."

"So take a side-hall," Lea agreed, looking from one wall to the next.

"We need to head to the more populated areas," Lex muttered.

"But that could have more…more people hiding."

"They want us vigilant, not paranoid," Alex snapped back. "Come on."

She turned left toward the front of the building, and the rest of us scrambled to find the right camera…well, not all of us. Duo had no issue following their progress.

Duo snorted, moving toward the console I was on and typing something in so the camera angle changed to a long shot of the hall they were in as the girls moved almost silently the way they'd chosen. At one point, they came across a fire-escape map and stopped to study it…and I hoped they'd do the quick thing and hop out an exit. It would sound an alarm that would instantly have _our_ soldiers checking it out and that would interfere with the specials Quatre had lent to Duo and me for the exercise.

"Hey," Lea whispered, "I bet we should go out a fire exit."

"What?" Lex protested back. "No!"

"Yeah, it'd have an alarm," Lea agreed. "The soldiers of the palace check out any alarms they hear."

"But that would warn whoever's after us, too."

Duo tapped another screen, which showed one of the recruits moving along the hall looking for them.

"But the soldiers would _come_," Lea persisted.

"No, let's just go," Alex whispered.

Trowa sighed.

The girls moved on, and I glanced sidelong at Quatre whose hair was excessively mussed and his agitation hadn't cooled. He met my eyes and turned away from me, starting to pace behind us.

"Hey," Duo muttered, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. "I want to know what they'll do if shit comes down."

"I _know_," Quatre snapped.

"Your daughter had the idea," Duo reminded him. "Alex is scared, though," he frowned and looked to Trowa.

"She's not taking charge," Q noted, gesturing toward the screens. "She should take charge."

"I'm not an expert on the hierarchy of fourteen year old girls, but I think these two hold to their order."

Trowa smacked me upside the head.

I tsked at him.

"Your man is being awfully sneaky by an awfully lot of cameras," Duo mused, studying the soldier.

"I told you, he'll make a good field operative. He can stand around and listen in, but he's not good at the skulking," Quatre gestured at the woman he'd had out. "She's fine."

"I'm married," Duo protested.

They both laughed a bit at that as Quatre hit him.

"You two are stupid," I informed them happily as the girls went off camera. "Duo?"

"Hm? Oh," Duo moved over to the console and typed something else in…and it showed an empty hall.

If Duo'd been an animal, his ears would have perked up.

"Where'd they go?" Quatre demanded.

Duo moved to the wall of cameras.

"Sir?"

We looked at a soldier who was monitoring the halls.

"I'm sorry, sir," he muttered, looking us all over. "The girls ducked into an air-duct."

We stared at him.

"In hall D," he added, moving around me and standing at attention beside me until I moved from in front of the console. He typed into the machine quickly before panning the camera to show girl fingers pulling a grating back into place.

I started laughing.

They'd used to hide in those as kids…never far away from us, but out of immediate sight.

The fingers disappeared.

"Wow," Quatre noted, blinking.

The woman who'd been tailing them moved around the corner and stopped, looking around as I defaulted the camera back to its original position.

"She should have seen that," Quatre mused, moving closer to the console himself as Duo watched from the appropriate camera on the wall.

"I really have to talk with Alex," Trowa said with a sigh.

"Don't tell her she was wrong," Duo suggested, looking to another camera. "Just tell her that Lea has valid ideas."

The bad skulker moved up behind the first woman and they started muttering together.

"Wow," Quatre groaned, smacking his forehead.

"You've only had them for a month," I reminded him. "They'll figure it out."

"I know," the blond sighed. "I was just hoping this would be a successful trial so I could get into the interesting stuff."

The pair nodded at each other and started off up the hall.

"Wow," I muttered.

The third man, a guy Quatre'd had for a while longer than the other two…more like six months…moved up the hall behind the other pair and looked at the camera, rolling his eyes before stepping around the corner and stopping as he watched the other two head toward the front.

"What are the girls doing?" Trowa muttered.

"If we change the camera angle, he'll see it," I reassured him. "I'm sure they're fine."

The man was obviously listening to something before looking down at the approximate level of the air-vent and…tearing it off.

I heard Lex squeak.

…I wasn't surprised that both fathers were gone.

"Hm," I muttered as Duo moved to join me.

It was Lea, though, who came out swinging. She kicked at the man's face as Alex darted out after her. The darker haired girl swung with her legs as Lea regained her balance, and that toppled the man to the ground before they both turned and bolted like bunnies.

"Yeah!" Duo shouted happily, watching them race down the corridor and around another corner.

The trained man was after them just as fast, and I wondered what the general populace would say about our training methods.

The girls broke past the two from before and they stared in disbelief before starting to run after them as well.

Quatre and Trowa broke into the corridor the girls had been using to hide and I sniggered.

"What?" Duo glanced at me, then smirked at the pair of dismayed faces before moving to the controls and doing something that caught Quatre's attention…before he and Trowa started running as well.

The smaller guy dived at Lea, but she was a flexible little girl and managed to avoid him, almost falling as Lex grabbed her wrist and yanked her after.

"Alarm!" Lea squeaked…and dived out an emergency exit.

The alarm sounded all over the halls.

"Yes!" Duo was laughing happily as he followed the action proudly.

Alex followed her cousin outside and the pair stayed near the wall as they pelted straight for the front.

I laughed myself.

The two under-trained didn't have enough sense to melt away and darted after the girls as the man who'd been following stopped at the sound of the alarm and looked around…before coming to sharp attention as Quatre and Trowa pelted around the corner. He sighed after they'd gone out the doors and started up the hall. As the soldiers started converging on the area he called what had been happening as part of the group broke away and darted toward the front of the building.

Duo promptly turned his phone back on, grinning at me as he watched the girls spilling out in front of the palace and diving over the steps to hide on the stairs under a big planter as the people walking there stopped in confusion.

The under-trained pair spilled out a breath later and stopped, looking around blankly.

"If we coulda had music playing," I noted as Quatre and Trowa burst into the open, "it woulda been a nifty chase scene."

Duo started sniggering as I turned my own phone back on.

The soldiers spilled from the front doors, looking down at the girls and _instantly_ moving into formation around them with their weapons pointed at the now-caught spies.

"Lea?" Quatre demanded.

"Daddy?" Marlea returned, popping her head up very slightly as the soldiers realized who the people were who were standing there.

Alex's head popped up that bit, too…before both girls were flying over the brick into their father's arms…and almost at the same time, the under-trained ones were pinned to the ground—that had been good training and the girls' quick movement, not the under-trained ones.

I grinned slightly, looking to Duo.

Someone in the field area answered a phone.

"This is Maxwell. This was a drill under code zero-five-three. The two detained on the ground are not to be harmed or treated badly. They're trainees under Winner."

The man who answered it started shouting orders, making gestures all around before the two under-trained were let up and stood sheepishly at attention.

"Sir!" the third man muttered, moving around to stand in front of the soldiers. "I'll take responsibility, sir."

"Well, at least they're loyal," I muttered with a sigh, pushing away from the desk. "From here on this falls to those two."

"Yeah," Duo agreed, stretching some and looking around. "Come on. Let's take the video and put a sound-track to it," he moved to the console I'd been sitting at. "Then we can replay it to the girls and tell them what they did wrong and offend them at the same time."

I sniggered, hitting him in the arm.

He grinned his would-be-innocent grin at me, and led me from the room.

- -

"How'd it go?"

"Disastrous and wonderful," Duo replied dryly.

"Oh?"

"They ended up all right, but their approach left something to be desired—Lea didn't take charge until they were basically in blind-flight."

"Great," I muttered, dropping back onto the couch. "Tro and Q are still in one piece, aren't they?"

"Mostly," he agreed, moving…to straddle me.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Quatre hates testing Lea, because he hates her being scared," he started to unbutton my shirt.

"Duo," I muttered, catching his wrist and studying his eyes seriously.

"Oh, stop," he returned, brushing my hands away and resting his palms against my chest as he studied my eyes. "Trowa pretends he's fine with it, but the moment Lex squeaked they were both gone."

I nodded, shoving his hands off and sitting up…which didn't unseat him, it put him in my lap.

I started laughing, giving up as I dropped backwards before we could be eye to eye.

He sniggered himself, crawling off of me to sit on the floor and rest his head backwards.

I considered Selena coming in and bitching at me after Duo'd asked her if she thought he cheated. Selena was well convinced that he would never and had never and that it was nothing more than a passing thought in his mind just like the rest of us—which made me note that they weren't normal.

"It's shit like that that makes me think you're not so loyal," I noted quietly to him. "You may not be thinking about it, but sitting _on_ me and starting to strip me doesn't make me think of innocence embodied."

"I wasn't stripping you," he retorted.

"You had four buttons undone."

He laughed a wicked laugh and looked at me again. "The lord forgives all sin, huh? Wasn't that your wisdom?"

"That was before I was married," I noted almost clinically.

"Oh, when _you_ cheated on her…I always forget you did that."

…okay, that wasn't funny. I frowned at him.

"I couldn't figure out why that's where your mind went," he noted, sitting to properly look at me. "I forgot _why_ I ever even _met_ Kayla."

The woman's auburn hair and sunny smile flashed through my mind and I looked away from him completely.

The fact that he'd loved her had made me happy, had made me feel better because Relena's and my child's-game had hurt her. I'd used her to hurt my then girlfriend, now wife, and then I'd set her up with someone who love her. We'd all been happy with Jacob dancing around trying to talk any of us into sleeping with him for a laugh before turning right away to someone else. We'd all been together and making money and…thriving…before Donovan Charles, the leader of a syndicate called Gray Day had realized Kayla was in love and with another man. I'd split Kayla up from Donovan, and it had embittered him…and finding out she was happy with someone else had enraged him. He'd hired Keith Raoul, Ace, the Lunatic…to do a hit on Kayla.

Duo'd barely made it home in time to even get her to the hospital, and all through that interminable night we'd waited…and finally, when everyone else needed to sleep I'd left…for five minutes, maybe ten…and when I got back the waiting room we'd been in was destroyed, Duo had been sedated…

Kayla was dead.

I ran a hand down my face as the grief struck me again.

Kayla Green…sweetness embodied…she'd deserved _so_ much better…

I heard a choked breath and looked sharply up to Duo, noting that he was breathing hard and fast and looking anywhere but at me.

That's right…_he_ had been the one who loved her.

He shoved himself to his feet, and I wondered how much of my thought process he'd had going on at the same time.

"Duo, wait," I protested, shoving up off the couch to move after him…but he was gone.

I pulled the door open to the main hall—he'd closed it after him—in time to see his apartment door closing.

Wufei was standing in the door to his apartment with an expression of uncertainty on his face as he looked back to me.

I shook my head at him, not wanting to go into it as I stepped back into my apartment and closed my door behind myself.

…Yeah, there was a reason I'd always assumed he'd cheat, because I knew how easy it could be to do. Yeah, I was alone in that assumption, because Relena's endeavors had always and only been to hurt me. She didn't think it was easy, but she could act petty if she were given the right situation.

And really, Duo would have told us…or someone else would have noticed. Of course, if it were Wufei he would sooner choke on his own tongue than ruin something for Duo, even if it had been Duo's fault that he'd lost his fiancé.

Or did that really count? Obviously with how quickly that relationship had fallen, Miguel was Alex's biological uncle, there had been other problems in that relationship.

Duo didn't lie, not really. His relationship with Nira was complex to the point of sheer idiocy, meaning that I'd never been able to make sense of the fine subtleties they employed…and he would have told her if he'd cheated on her right after it happened.

So was I bad for thinking it? Was I bad for letting him _know_ I was thinking it? Were we all bad for being so scared of what he could do when it'd been _two_ years out of his entire life that we hadn't been able to find him? Sure, he'd changed when he'd gone to chase down Kayla's killer. He'd become bi, for one, he'd lost any qualms he'd ever had for killing…he'd lost his self control.

He'd lost his faith.

I rubbed at my temples as I moved to sit on the couch again. That had been two years, and he'd been here with us, raising his _daughter_ for seven years…eight.

I'd always trusted him, but he did those little things—like sitting on me and unbuttoning my shirt—a little _too_ casually, and a little _too_ frequently.

…maybe I should let him finish and see what he'd do.

I really needed to see how far my friend would _go_.

- -

E/N: Okay...so no one's reading this, or no one's offering opinoins? I actually HAVE a plot to begin with this time...it's not one of my rambling things...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"Come on, Tomé," Jun protested at the man. "You said yourself that you'd love to take Maxwell down."

"I said I wanted him to lose power," Tomé retorted. "I was drunk and I didn't mean it."

Jun considered that a long moment, not sure how to proceed. He didn't know if his plans could still go without Tomé's assistance.

Tomé made an amused noise. "Maybe, though…maybe I could get into the king's inner circle another way, huh?"

Jun focused sharply on the man.

Tomé had an evil grin on his face. "What's it worth for you to keep me quiet?"

"What's it worth to _you_?" Jun purred in return. "Perhaps you forget who I am, Mr. Tomé. Perhaps you forget my power."

"Swathe has no power in the Sanq kingdom," Tomé retorted sharply. "The king himself took down everything you'd built up."

"The _king_," Jun spat in disgust. "Nothing but a damned assassin."

Tomé looked unimpressed.

"A petty criminal with the calling card of a single dollar bill, you remember the news, huh? Another attack by the cheap killer? The man believed to be a hired assassin? Your sainted _king_ is that self same man."

Tomé raised an eyebrow. "The word of a felon means nothing to me."

"You ask _Heero_ who Tony Vanderin was, why don't you? Ask him who Tailor Johnson was…maybe Chance…or _Lindsay_…and see what he says." He thought back to the pilots and smirked. "Better yet, why don't you go to Winner…go alone to Winner when no one can catch you and tell him you want to see Rob, huh?"

That got a highly arched eyebrow.

"Maybe have Steve come along…get Maxwell in there, too."

"Who is Steve?"

Jun blinked at that, thinking a moment. He'd never heard the man's last name, but he'd _seen_ him on the council…

That was actually entirely beside the point.

"Go play up to you _king_," Jun spat at the screen in disgust. "You go be a good little bitch and he might let Maxwell play with you if you're real good."

Tomé raised his eyebrows again.

Jun snorted in disgust and hit the disconnect button, taking a long pull off a tequila bottle and forcing himself up from the vid seat to stumble across his small apartment and drop onto his bed.

He'd been a king himself, once. He'd been in complete control once…and he hadn't _had_ to have a _hovel_ to live in. He'd had cleaning staff and…and…his _wardrobe_ had been proper…but then _Heero_ had destroyed the _entire_ building. A proper razing, Barton had said…Barton had seen to it that the entire complex was blown to the last foundation stone and thought it was funny.

Jun went to take another pull of his bottle and realized it was empty, staring in confusion as he realized something was wet. He blinked blearily at the bottle, then the area below it as it slowly connected that it'd spilled out.

He threw the empty across the apartment as the stupid boy below him continued to let his music pound with no concern to anyone.

Jun…almost wanted to die.

- -

July melted into August as only the summer months can, dripping down to fill the cracks ever so slowly…like an ice sculpture in the shade. You know it'll happen eventually, but it takes a lot longer than you care to wait around for.

The business of running a kingdom had long-since lost its novelty…actually, the only time the job had really _seemed_ worth my time was when we had a firm goal in mind—when we'd planned to take _out_ the syndicates.

This wasn't to say that I didn't care if Relena, Faye, or Heero were protected, or the girls and Dusty…but the job was less than taxing on me, and I'd always driven myself.

I had, however, sworn myself to my king and my queen. If I took off, not only would I be leaving my wife and _children_, but all of my friends as well…not just the post.

It was slowly driving me insane.

Actually, to hear the others talk about me when I'd come back…after sparing Keith _for_ Selena…I'd been insane then. That's what they like to say—shit, even Wufei preached that I'd lost my damned mind consistently.

Was it wrong that I wasn't happy? That I wanted more?

When we'd been young, I hadn't thought about anything. I'd lived life day to day…with Lanni, the nun who'd seduced me away from my friends with visions of helping the needy and making a difference…to _surviving_ on my home colony like I had during my youth. I'd helped so many young ones to _understand_ the text-books they were given…to _believe_ they were intelligent enough to pass the _standardized_ tests…

Something gave and I jumped slightly…as ink dripped all over everything.

I stared at my hand in disbelief a moment before looking at the paper properly…ruined paper, I might add…and then at the pen tip itself.

How had I managed that?

The tip had bent sideways under the pressure, and that had broken the cylinder, and it had drained. It wasn't the cheapest pen, but nothing extravagant either…

"Ah, hell," I muttered, tossing the thing at my trashcan with a groan before nearly wadding up the paper.

Unfortunately, it was someone else's form.

"Damn it," I muttered irritably, grabbing a tissue and starting to wipe at my fingers.

"What's up?" Wufei asked curiously, moving into the room…with a dangerously attractive boy behind him.

I blinked at them.

"New recruit," Fei explained with a very brief and passing smirk. "What happened?" He leaned forward and took the paper I'd just ruined before looking back to my hand.

"Yeah," I agreed dryly. "Don't say anything."

He grinned at me as the recruit saluted me without meeting my eyes.

"At ease, soldier," I muttered, studying him with interest. He was nearly as tall as we were, meaning in the upper five-foot range. You could tell by the lines and curves of his faces that he'd only just matured. He had to be at least eighteen, if only because that was the joining requirement…he was wearing a simple t-shirt with ironed jeans and the type of shiny shoes I'd worn in my Lanni days…but the boy was _built_. The shape of his arms alone bespoke of long hours at the local gym.

"Duo," Wufei muttered, smirking very slightly at me.

I met his eyes. "Can I help you?"

"I hope so," he noted with that evil flash in his eyes again. "This is Som Ryu. Showed up this morning with his duffel of required things and parked his ass outside my office."

"It's a bit off-season," I noted, glancing toward my calendar. "Recruiting opens October."

"I'm sorry, sir," he muttered, not looking at me. "If I'd waited, I wouldn't have been able to come."

"Care to explain that one?" I asked, blinking at him.

"I'm a colony boy," he said, raising his dark eyes to mine briefly. "I…my dad is a citizen, but…"

I nodded my understanding.

"I…he came up for my graduation," he added quickly, looking between us. "Said he had one ticket for me to come to earth and I could take it or leave it…and…well…"

"You liking earth so far?"

He smiled slightly and shrugged. "Kinda…freaky…when it storms."

I grinned more at that.

The infamous thunderstorm phobia. The sky wasn't supposed to _make_ those kinds of noises without something _there_. Loud noises mean the maintenance team was scrambling to fix it before the endless vacuum of space took away your oxygen. The fact that hot and cold air hit…air shouldn't be that _loud_…

"So if you had one ticket here," Wufei asked, "then…why come now, before recruiting?"

He didn't say anything, looking away from us.

So…either he didn't like his father, his father was an asshole, or the return ticket expired before recruiting…I'd almost think his visa, but if his father was a citizen…

Wufei tapped the paper I'd ruined, studying my face. "You get to recopy this now."

"Haha," I retorted, yanking it from him.

"Can I…help?" Som asked, looking to me quickly.

I blinked at him.

"I can't do anything with him until October," Wufei informed me with that flash of a very evil smirk. "What do you think, sir knight?"

I studied him a long moment, wanting to _really_ just give him a _look_ that told him _exactly_ what I thought. Those looks, however, were not appropriate for impressionable company.

"You work for me, you need to be fast and efficient," I noted, not looking away from the defense minister.

"Uh…I can do that," he noted.

I studied him a long moment, then thought. "Go to central and get another five-forty form," I ordered. "Make sure it's forty-D. Five minutes," I added, turning to sit at my desk again.

"Where's…central?" he asked blankly.

I raised my eyebrows and looked to Wufei…who also had his eyebrows raised.

Som hesitated a moment, looked between us, then turned and darted from the room.

"So, sir knight," Wufei purred, moving to bend over the desk so he was face to face with me. "What's our policy on internal relationships?" he tossed a packet of papers he'd been holding onto the desk.

The registration forms.

For the comfort of our soldiers we had a voluntary box that asked your sexuality, and any phobias.

He didn't have a single phobia marked, but he did have the bisexual square checked.

I stared at that, then looked up to Wufei.

He grinned at me.

"You're an asshole," I snapped, snatching the packet up and smacking him with it.

He started laughing, taking the papers from me. "Am I bad?"

"Horrible," I agreed darkly.

The Chinese man sniggered more, paging through the information. "Speaks Chinese," he noted. "We'll have to watch that…damn…boy knows about every one _I_ know…"

"Would you _stop_?" I demanded, giving him a mildly disbelieving look. Until Ryu had been properly put through the system, his information was classified for Wufei and his staff _only_.

He sniggered again, closing the file and looking to me again.

"Sucks to be married sometimes," I mused, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from a drawer. "Actually, it sucks to have your wife pregnant," corrected as I pushed my seat back and rose.

He gave me a look, rolling his eyes.

I grinned innocently in return, but before he could speak the door flung open and Ryu moved in and saluted us before offering me two sheets of paper uncertainly.

I took them from him and met his eyes curiously.

"It's not the same as that one," he informed me, pointing at the one on the desk. "So I got that one, too."

I grinned at that, setting them both on my desk and making a gesture. "Come on, kid," I ordered. "Let's talk."

"Sir," he muttered, moving out the door and looking to Wufei uncertainly.

"I'll get these papers where they need to be," he noted after us. "We're having lunch, right?"

I nodded in return as the kid studied my face sincerely—there was more than innocent curiosity there, too.

"Ryu?" Wufei asked.

The kid focused on him instantly.

"We're having lunch, right?"

The boy stared at him in disbelief before nodding slightly.

"Call it noon," he mused. "Things'll be ready by then."

I nodded at him and he turned to walk away.

"Um…" Ryu looked up to me again as we moved into the courtyard.

"You don't smoke, do you?" I asked as I moved to sit on a bench.

"No, sir," he replied, moving to stand near me.

"Good, it's a filthy habit," I lit the tip and inhaled.

"Hypocrisy makes for complication," he noted.

"Hypocrisy," I retorted, exhaling. "Sit down, don't stand in the smoke…I'm not addicted, I've just had a damn long day."

"Why's that?" he asked, sitting across from me.

"My wife is pregnant," I returned with a smirk, meeting his eyes briefly. "About six months along now."

"…congratulations?"

"Yep, gonna be a boy," I agreed. "She wants to name him Keith…but I severely _hate_ that name."

He blinked.

"How about you? You like Keith?"

"With all due respect," he muttered, looking away, "you can't expect me to give you an honest opinion when you've stated you out-right hate it."

I snickered at that, inhaling again.

"…why do you keep looking at me?" he asked, glancing at me with his eyes again.

"Not often I meet an eager young recruit," I returned, exhaling again as I looked away. "I get to play with you until October. I'm just curious to know how hard it'll be to make you break."

"You can't break me," he retorted.

I grinned, inhaling again as I met his eyes. "We'll see."

- -

"So you just _want_ me to skin you alive, don't you?" I demanded of Wufei pointedly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Nira," Fei returned innocently.

I looked back into the courtyard where Duo was sitting with some pretty little Asian boy and gave the Chinese man in front of me a very level look.

He sniggered and looked out himself. "He won't cheat on you, but a little torture's good for the soul."

I smacked him hard in the arm.

Wufei laughed his naughty laugh, then pushed the door open.

"Ooh, baby!" Duo hopped up and moved to kiss me instantly, but I made sure he stayed arm's length away as his expression turned to hurt confusion.

I pointed at the cigarette.

"Oh, shit," he exhaled hard and tossed the thing to the table, where the new boy stopped its momentum and set it with the cherry over the side. "Sorry."

"You smell like a club," I retorted, kissing his cheek.

"We're finding if we have any extra rooms right now," Wufei informed the kid. "If not you might have to bunk with someone else."

"Like?"

"A recruit…Maxwell or myself."

My _ass_.

The kid nodded, standing as I moved around my husband to study him. "Ma'am," he muttered, dropping his eyes.

I touched his face, which made him meet my eyes in confusion. I ran my fingers into his hair before forcing his chin up to get a proper look at him. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen," he replied promptly.

"What's your orientation?"

"_Tcch_, Nira," Wufei snapped.

"Orientation?" he repeated blankly.

"You gay, little boy?" I demanded, meeting his eyes pointedly.

He flushed and pulled away from me.

"Where do you live?"

"My father lives over in Cowalles," he returned, still not meeting my eyes.

"Where do _you_ live?"

"No where," he said, meeting my eyes again. I could see hurt anger in that gaze.

"So if Chang wouldn't have taken you on, what would you have done?"

"Returned to my colony."

I liked that he wasn't entirely submissive, but I also knew it'd be that extra tease for my poor husband. Wufei hadn't known Duo when I'd first met him. He didn't get that the pretty little Asian boys had been _Mike's_ special treat. Personally, I assumed that'd had something to do with Wufei himself, if not Heero, probably both.

This was going to get hard very soon.

"Scared to answer me, baby?" I asked, staying right in his face.

"I don't understand why it matters."

"Who said it mattered?" I purred back.

"Then why do you ask?"

"Because you might be staying in my home, and if you're going to be near my daughter I want the truth."

"I'm bi," he returned, his jaw clenched.

I pet his cheek, turning to look at my husband again before indicating his cigarette.

"Oh, shit," Duo darted forward and grabbed it, flicking off the extra ash.

I leaned up and kissed him meaningfully. "Don't be late."

He smirked at me as I turned to sweep from the courtyard.

- -

"What was that?" I demanded of Duo as Selena swept off up the hall. "I thought you two were done fucking now."

Duo had one lip between his teeth as he looked back to me and shrugged.

"That's some woman," Ryu muttered, staring at the door.

"That's my wife," Duo retorted, dropping back onto the bench. "And if I ever see this expression on your face in reference to her again I might just get upset."

The almost longing moment passed and Ryu looked around to me again sharply.

"I should know by lunch if we'll have to make arrangements for you or not," I informed him. "Meanwhile, play tag-along and don't let him break you," I patted Duo's shoulder, starting back for the building.

"I'm not so fragile," he snapped to me in irritation.

I turned to look at him with raised eyebrows.

He dropped his eyes. "Sorry, sir."

Duo smirked, meeting my eyes, then nodded slightly.

I rolled my eyes in response, and started for my office.

- -

Royal ceremony was hell when summer was taking her last breaths. Addressing the throngs for our yearly carnival wasn't the issue, the issue was that we were in formal garb for more than an hour as the sun set in our eyes so the crowd could see us properly.

Duo tossed his gloves onto my coffee table, wiping his hands on his pants.

"Haha! Brutish table made of fine cherry," I mocked a man's tone, watching the knight expectantly. "I do protest your unsightly manner with your scattered cups and magazines, and here-by challenge you to trial-by arms! Defend yourself!"

Duo started laughing, dropping onto the floor beside it.

I giggled, reaching over to touch his hair.

"Don't," he muttered, leaning away from me to drop backwards on the floor.

"What's wrong?" I persisted, raising an eyebrow at him as I considered his uniform. "In formal state robes you aren't supposed to sit on the floor."

"I challenged the table and lost," he retorted. "Now he'll be your champion."

I giggled more, looking to Heero.

"So you'll be the table?" Heero asked curiously. "But you…have to breathe and stuff…and how do you know it's a him?"

Duo grinned at us. "He told me with his dying breath."

"But you died," I protested.

"Oh…he told me with my dying breath."

I grinned appreciatively.

"What's wrong, sir knight?" Heero muttered, moving to straddle the man.

I blinked at him.

"That's not helping," Duo retorted, shoving Heero over. "Leave me alone."

"Selena can't have sex," I reminded my husband.

Duo gave me a look.

"Oh, yeah, huh," Heero patted Duo low on the stomach and was rewarded with a punch to the arm for the effort, which made him laugh.

"I hate this part of the pregnancy," Duo mused, looking to the ceiling. "In a couple months when Relena cries uncle I'm gonna laugh in your _face_," he informed my king.

"Cries uncle?" I asked archly, raising an eyebrow at him. "If I start crying uncle that'll mean the girls are there, and no one would be too happy about _that_."

Duo laughed wickedly, and Heero hit him before giving me a look.

I smirked. "I heard you got yourself a boy-toy, too, huh, kitty?"

"Mommy'd take him away if she caught me playing rough," he retorted, meeting my eyes. "I play nice with my toys."

Heero smacked him again, and it caused our friend to react, bowling him over so he fell on his back.

"In formal state robes, you aren't supposed to _wrestle_," I snapped at them both.

"_Get_ off the floor," Hilde ordered the pair of them as she moved into the room tiredly. "You two are as bad as Dusty."

Heero and Duo cast her identical innocent grins, but they _did_ stop wrestling.

"These aren't robes," Heero added, yawning hard as he plucked at his shirt. "They're uniforms, and they can be pressed and cleaned."

I grinned at him.

"It's hot," Duo added with a sigh, fanning himself. "But I'm too lazy to get up…Heero, strip me."

Heero guffawed at that.

"Tcch, Duo, really," Hilde grumbled, waddling to sit beside me on the couch.

"Sorry, baby," he returned, studying her. "You feeling okay?"

"If I go into labor now, he'll be perfectly healthy."

I grinned at her as she thought.

"So…" she met my eyes, "order me into labor, Lena."

I considered that a long moment as I heard Quatre talking with someone in the hall, then shrugged. "Go into labor, Hilde."

She considered it a moment and sighed, giving me a disappointed look.

"Wow, she _can't_ do everything," Duo noted to my husband.

"She can if she wants to," Heero teased. "Or if _I_ want her to."

Duo tsked and smacked Heero again, which caused Heero to give the submission gesture.

"Whoever invented August needs to be fried at the stake," Hilde muttered, leaning forward.

"Fried? Steak?" Jacob appeared in the door giving us all curious looks.

"Yeah, in the fridge," Heero gestured toward our kitchen as I grinned more.

Jacob sighed, moving in with Quatre a step or two behind him.

"You need to just…get them both wheel-chairs," Wufei grumbled.

"_Fei_," Selena whined.

"I should get one for Hilde," Trowa mused.

"Daddy," Lex protested.

"It'd probably help her back," Lea noted.

"I'm _hot_, Wufei," Faye whined. "I don't want to _wear_ this no more."

"Dude, I'm not your father," Wufei noted.

"Can't really tell with the way you two look," Duo muttered in Chinese…then grunted as not only Heero, but Quatre hit him.

"I didn't fuck Wufei," I mused.

"Mommy? Can I change?"

I was amused to note, when Wufei carried my daughter in, that Faye did have a sort of vague resemblance to her uncle, and Heero gave me a look. I nodded at my little girl.

"What?" Wufei asked, looking between all of us as he set the little girl down and swatted her rear…she disappeared toward her bedroom.

"I forget, did we have sex?" I asked him in Chinese.

"When?" he returned.

Heero sat up to look at him in disbelief as everyone else started laughing weakly.

"What's so funny?" Lex asked as Dustin followed her to the door, but neither crossed the threshold.

"Lewd jokes," Duo returned, extending his arms so Ashley moved from Lea to sit in his lap. The older girls disappeared with the little boy between them.

"I heard fried steak," Jacob noted. "We should get room service."

"I don't feel cruel enough to make anyone fry us steaks in this heat," I refused. "Let's order cold salad and cold chicken. They'll have that made in the fridge."

"Okay," Duo muttered, dropping backwards where he lay as Ashley tried to giggle.

"Come on, love, let's change," Selena sighed, extending her hand to her daughter.

I groaned myself, standing as Nira joined me and we both hauled Hilde to her feet.

"Yeah…we want lots of cold chicken and salad," Duo muttered, having pulled out his cell phone. "We have popsicles for the little ones, right? All right…so maybe coolers…make it all nice and icy. Huh? Yeah, thanks…yeah." He shoved himself up as Ash attempted to assist him, then turned to attempt to help Heero. "All right, wonderful." Duo hung up before yanking Heero back to his feet and scooping his daughter up around the middle with one hand.

It said something that she was smiling and snatched his gloves off the table as he carried her like that…I wasn't sure _what_ it said, but it said something.

"We'll be back," Duo informed us from the door. "They said the food will take about five or ten minutes…I'm taking a shower, you should, too," he nodded his head to Heero.

Heero saluted, and seeing as he was still in full dress without taking off his gloves or crown, it looked…very formal.

Duo grinned at him and swept off down the hall with Trowa helping Hilde behind him.

"Permission to bathe, sir," he said to me in crisp military form.

Quatre groaned as Jacob started sniggering.

"Permission denied," I retorted, turning away from him. "I'm showering first."

Heero'd lost the stance when I'd refused, and at this darted for the bathroom.

"But, Ro, I'm _pregnant_!" I protested, scampering to follow him.

"Um…" I heard Jacob muttering as my husband tried to dive for the bathroom and I slid in his way with a sweet smile…and closed the door in his face.

He was openly smiling as he came up short. "Damn…"

- -

I hated going up and down the stairs, but none of us actually liked elevators…at least the castle was air-conditioned so I didn't get any hotter. The nice thing about it all was that even with Trowa taking care of Dustin, I still had Alex to help.

"You okay, mom?" Alex asked, studying my face.

"I'm fine," I reassured her, pulling my tank-top on properly and sighing as she offered me my underwear. I wasn't bending too well right now, and she was intending to hop in the shower after me…I felt something slide down the inside of my leg, and she looked down as her eyes went wide…and it felt like I peed myself.

"Um…" she started, then raised her eyes to mine as comprehension lit them.

I nodded at her.

Her eyes rounded…and she darted out the door. "Dad!"

I laughed weakly to myself as I reached for my skirt and pulled that over my head, then down around my waist.

"Hilde?" Trowa demanded, stepping into the bathroom with Alex a step behind him. "Shit…Alex, clean up her legs…"

And we were off and running.

- -

"Her water broke?" I demanded in disbelief.

"What?" Selena asked blankly from where she was coming out of the bathroom.

"What?" Ashley asked, coming into our bedroom.

"Just now," Trowa agreed. "We're going."

"We'll be there," I agreed, tossing the phone to Nira as I pulled my cell and hit the auto-dial.

"Sir Maxwell?" Cherry asked blankly.

"Barton's water broke," I replied promptly. "If the cars aren't ready by the time she's at the front, there will be a lot of openings in my ranks…advanced teams to the hospital, _now_!"

"Yes, sir!"

Selena giggled at me slightly. "I love it when you panic."

"Get some clothes on," I retorted…then went to take care of my daughter.

- -

"Relena!" I called, throwing the bathroom door open. "You won't believe it!"

"Hilde's water broke?" she asked sardonically.

"Yes!" I agreed, yanking off my uniform. "Hurry up!"

She stood stunned before pulling the curtain to look at me with wide eyes.

"I'll get Faye," I agreed, then darted to get _myself_ dressed.

- -

"What?" I asked blankly, the towel I'd been using to dry my back almost falling from my hand. "Like…right now?"

"Yes, right now!" Alex squeaked at me. "We're going to the front. I've got Dusty and Duo's got the security teams working!"

"It's not false?" I persisted, moving across the room to sit and pull a sock on. "This is real?"

"Her water broke," Alex agreed as she was given crisp orders from her father, who could be _extremely_ efficient under pressure. "I have to go…"

- -

"You're _not_ serious," I protested as Lea moved out of her room in a summer dress with a dreamy smile and her hair-brush. "Oh, sweet," I muttered, blinking at her. "Hilde's water just broke."

Lea focused on me sharply.

"I'll brush it later?" I offered apologetically.

"Hilde's _water_ broke?" Jacob demanded, moving into the hall.

Lea started giggling as she dashed back into her bedroom. "At least she had the good grace of waiting twenty minutes so we could all be showered."

I started laughing, hanging up on Trowa as I turned to pull my shoes on.

Some days…our life was just extremely amusing.

- -

E/N: thanks for the reviews!! Sorry it took so long for me to get back to this series. hehe, it gives it a sort of sense of realism, ne? Seven years passed between stories, so the wait was proper mind set? That works, doesn't it? lmao. I should probably note that standard disclaimers apply. I do not own Gundam Wing, etc.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

It was kinda funny, how these things worked out…

"You look pale," Hilde muttered to me tiredly, smiling slightly.

"I was closer to passing out when Dusty was born," I reminded her, grabbing her hand.

She laughed a bit at that, studying the perfect little boy in my arms. After a moment, she looked to my eyes again. "How were you with Alex?"

"By Letti's head not seeing anything," I admitted with a grin.

She smiled at that, touching my hair as she sighed. "Drugs are nice."

"I noticed you liking them," I reassured her.

She laughed again, yawning.

It'd been a chaotic night.

True to Duo's panic-form, the hospital had been well checked entirely before we even got off the palace grounds. Every patient, every guest, every nurse in the maternity wing had gone through a process of checking that'd make airport security feel a breeze…well, he wasn't searching their stuff, but everyone was accounted for, and every person that entered or left the wing had been documented.

No one minded, when they realized why, though…

"I should put him down, huh?" I murmured.

"You don't have to," she reassured me with another yawn. "Who has Dusty?"

"Lex and him are staying with Duo," I returned.

"Mm…that's nice."

"Selena's gonna break'em to trade," I agreed.

"Okay."

I grinned, looking up to her as she actually thought about what I said and met my eyes.

I laughed happily, kissing her hand.

She rolled her eyes at me, touching my hair again before extending her arms.

I passed our baby over to her, then thought a second and turned to look for the camera.

Her initial contractions had taken almost until we were at the hospital to start, and then it'd taken several hours for the rest of the labor to hit. We'd left the palace at about nine…she hadn't had the baby until four-ten.

It'd been a _very_ long night.

I snapped a picture of her, moving closer to study his small face.

"What should we name him?" she asked quietly.

"Raberba," I mused, dropping into my chair again.

"Mm," she thought. "Mikhail Raberba?"

I wondered if she realized the full intent of my suggestion or if she was too drugged to care.

"Quatre might not like that, though," she added thoughtfully.

I sniggered slightly and she looked up to me. "Robert?"

A moment of disbelief crossed her eyes before she grinned evilly.

I laughed, leaning forward and resting my head on the bed. "They'd all get it, but no one else would…and that might lead to some…issues."

She giggled slightly again.

"Demitry?

"No…"

"Mikhail Robert?"

She laughed again, smacking me.

"I dunno, baby," I muttered, touching her hand.

"Only Duo calls me that," she retorted, touching my hand again.

"Sorry. Mikhail Raberba, huh?"

"Yeah…. Trowa? I'm tired now."

"Now?" I asked archly, rising to take Mikhail from her. She smiled at me as I almost went to put him in his cradle, then decided against it.

"You'll have to put him down some time," she reminded me with a smile. "If you do it now, the nurse will take him and you can sleep."

I thought about that a long moment, then shook my head. "You go ahead…I think I'll stay awake a little bit more."

- -

"And I just thought I'd let you all know that last night, my wife went into labor," Trowa informed the people who'd gathered. "And as of four-ten A.M., today, August twenty-second, she gave birth to a six pound, three ounce baby boy."

The cheers from the crowd were extremely loud.

Trowa laughed, scooping up Dustin and hugging him a moment before muttering in his ear.

"Yeah," Dustin agreed, looking to his father's eyes a moment. Trowa nodded encouragingly at him and he took a breath, looking back to the crowd. "My baby brother's name is…" Trowa whispered something else to him. "…Mikhail Raberba Barton!" he turned to give Trowa a confused look. "Really?"

Quatre was standing quite a bit straighter, actually, as many in the crowd appreciated the child's earnest question with happy laughter and loud cheers.

Trowa smiled, then looked back to Quatre a moment before looking back to the assemblage. "In honor of my new son," he said loudly, "and the fact that we're in the middle of a carnival…I've set up an area on the east side of the fair…where there will be free drinks until it runs out!"

The cheers broke again as Trowa watched the people with a smile before turning to look at us again.

"Raberba, huh?" Quatre asked with a grin. "I don't like it."

Trowa sniggered.

"That's my brother's name!" Dusty protested, scrambling down from Trowa to run up to Quatre and frown up at the man. For a moment it'd looked like he was going to hit Quatre, but it'd just been him putting his arms up…kinda in the "pick me up" gesture…to lean against the man.

Quatre smiled, kneeling down so they were eye to eye. "I'm just playing, buddy…do you know what _my_ middle name is?"

Dustin frowned, shaking his head.

"Raberba," Q explained. "Quatre Raberba Winner."

Dustin's eyes widened as he understood what had been said.

See, Trowa'd found this fun game called naming-the-kid…in which the practice was not to tell any of the rest of us what name you'd chose and announcing it to the kingdom with us all in company.

"He has your middle name?" Dustin asked, looking over his shoulder to Trowa. "Who has my middle name?"

"Your grandpa on your mom's side," Trowa explained as Alex darted into his arms to hug him tightly. He kissed the top of her head, and in a moment, Dustin had joined them. "You wanna go see baby Mikhail now?" he asked them curiously.

Ashley opened her mouth, but I touched her shoulder before she could move, picking her up as she gave me a confused look.

"They need some time with their mom and baby," I explained quietly to her. "Okay? We can go see Auntie later on."

"Okay," she agreed, thinking about it.

"We'll be back," Trowa informed us, then stopped and looked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You can take the unit out. Leave two at the room and we'll be fine."

"Oh yeah, huh?" I grinned at him, pulling out my cell phone.

"Come on, let's go celebrate," Heero muttered, stretching tiredly and looking to the early afternoon sun. The crowd had dispersed fairly shortly after Trowa'd explained _what_ he'd been doing.

"Kitty, get your toy to order more drinks," Relena added, touching Ashley's hair as she passed.

"Did she just call you kitty?" Ashley asked me, since I wasn't following the crowd.

"A lot of people call your dad a Cheshire Cat," Selena noted, moving up to kiss her cheek.

"'Cause he's always smiling, huh?" she asked, nodding her head.

"Exactly," Wufei agreed, touching her hair as well before casting me an evil grin and bouncing off.

"Hey, Ryu," I added. "The queen wants more drinks ordered for the celebration."

"More drinks?" Som asked blankly. "Don't hang up!" he added quickly. "I'm sorry…I don't have any idea how to do that one."

I grinned, feeling more cordial with my baby girl in my arms. "Get ahold of Barton's secretary. Order two more of whatever size he'd gotten from the queen, and get two large kegs of beer for me."

"Duo!" Selena protested.

"Hey, it's not a celebration until the beer flows," I retorted.

"Daddy, beer is icky," Ashley reminded me, sitting back to look at me.

"See, here's the thing, some people like it…but only adults."

She smiled at that, seeing as I tempered every possible adult vice with that notation.

"It'll have to be set up separately, I think…I don't know if Trowa thought to do it…so take care of that."

"Maxwell," he protested at me.

"Ryu," I retorted in the same whine, "it's not October yet and I told you I'm gonna try and break you."

He groaned. "Of course, sir."

I grinned at bit and closed my phone.

Ryu hadn't disappointed me yet.

- -

The end of August was marked with a week long party, seeing as Hilde'd had Mikhail on the first night of it, and even though Trowa'd only provided enough drinks for the first night, it was promptly followed with a little bit from the queen…sort of a gift from the people for the people…and then, of course, I took a night…or two. Buying that much juice, soda, and beer amused me highly…then Duo'd taken one night before, Wufei…etcetera. I was the only one who'd taken two nights, considering the brat was named after me, but that was all the same.

It was sad, on another hand, because Duo's stress was getting the better of him. Wufei might have thought he was funny setting up some pretty boy to be Duo's secretary, but no one else really appreciated the humor. By mid-September he was pissy as all hell and snapping at anyone who interrupted him…and he was always _moving_.

The only person he even pretended to have patience for was Ashley.

Of course, it didn't take long for Alex and Lea to be following him around. We'd all known how the children could calm even his worst of moods, and unlike the rest of us adults who pulled just enough away not to bother him, the kids moved in and smothered him.

Actually, I was on my way to extricate the poor boy causing half of the knight's stress because my sources had reported Duo was actually _yelling_ in his office.

I shoved the door opened and looked at the knight with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, tempt me," Duo returned without hesitation, turning on me. "Oh, just say _something_."

"Go home," I retorted.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

"You're getting nothing done and you're traumatizing…someone," I looked to Ryu, who had very wide eyes as he looked up to me from the chair he generally sat in.

He was wearing a wife-beater.

"Go to your room," I ordered him, looking him over. "And wear a _proper_ uniform tomorrow."

Duo was studying me challengingly.

"_Now_," I snapped.

Ryu darted and was gone.

I turned back to Duo. "You wanna fight me, I'll fight you," I informed him, moving to stand in his face. "You're being ridiculous and have half the staff terrified."

His evil smirk crossed his face, but he controlled it and looked away from me.

"Actually, let's go," I muttered, pulling at him.

"Don't _touch_ me," he snapped, yanking away.

I gave him a look and shoved him, which had him instantly turning on me, but he was thinking a little more than that immediate annoyance and kept stopping himself from responding. I pushed and shoved him into my office, which he seemed very annoyed about the entire time, but as soon as I got my door closed, he started laughing.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Sorry," he muttered, groaning and moving to drop onto the chair of my office and curling up so his feet were on the seat. "Why am I in hell?"

"Because you sweet talked Jun's court date out of my secretary?" I asked sweetly. "Or maybe because you sweet talked his lawyer's intern into telling you what languages he spoke."

"A little slow on the draw, aren't you?" he asked, raising his eyes to mine. "That shit was going on in June."

"I knew you were up to no good, but I don't make a practice of spying on you."

"If only because it could get your man hurt," he noted.

"With you, my dear boy, it would be no man."

He smirked at that.

I sighed and moved to sit at my desk. "You feel better now? Terrified the poor boy, huh?"

"Nah, he was worried about me flipping out, but not terrified."

I gave him a look.

He shrugged, yawning and pressing his face into his legs.

"You sleep last night?"

"Not really."

"What's your verdict?" I asked, meaning his own summation of his circumstances.

"I'm in a bad mood, leave me alone," he replied promptly.

I grinned at him. "So maybe you're in hell because you had a manipulative argument with Wufei, timed with disturbing precision, to be outside the court-house as the lawyer escorted Jun to his car."

"So your only helpful comments are about Jun?" he asked, raising his eyes to mine again. "Nothing about my situation?"

"Situation?" I asked sweetly. "Unlike Heero, I know better than thinking you'd cheat on Selena…conversely, unlike Wufei, I don't think it's endlessly amusing to bait you. Selena's due early December, right? So come January you'll be in better spirits. Seeing as it _is_ mid-September, though, we'll have to figure out something to do with you in the interim."

"Next month Ryu is moving into the actual recruits," he noted. "That'll help."

"It might kill Heero, but I think I'll put you on the little girlies."

"You won't put me anywhere," he retorted, raising his eyes to me again.

"No, dear," I muttered. "You think about what I do, huh? You think about my job, my skills, and my thought processing, and you consider how I might do with you exactly as I will."

The phrase'd passed my lips before I realized what I was saying, and his instant response was to be on me, eye to eye, studying me seriously. "And what would you do with me?" he whispered.

"Castrate you," I replied. "Let's see how excitable you are then."

He laughed at that and groaned, dropping down so his head was on my lap and sighing.

"You'll never grow up," I noted, petting his head. "You'll always be a little boy."

"What should I do?" he asked with a sigh. "What's your advice?"

I considered that a long time, considering how long it was until Nira should have her baby and grinned slightly. "Get a hobby."

"What?" he asked, raising his head to look at me.

"You have nothing to do, nothing to distract yourself. Find something to _do_."

"Like _what_?"

"Teach Ash chess?"

"Did it."

I focused on his head in disbelief.

"She plays me twice a week," he muttered into my pant-leg.

Damn…that was wrong somehow. She wasn't even _seven_ yet.

I thought again. "Start teaching her self-defense?"

"We've got her signed up for a normal class that starts in November," he disagreed.

Okay, chances were his daughter was completely covered.

"That feels good," he noted, moving his head more on my lap.

"That feels wrong," I retorted shifting back in my seat. "We _aren't_ that close, remember?"

He laughed slightly at that, but didn't move.

"Shit, Duo, I don't know…"

"I could find you a girlfriend," he noted, sitting back to look up at me.

"Like last time? Decided to get me laid and threw girls at me every time we went out?"

He sniggered at that.

"No, let's not start that again…my job is stressful and if I find someone she'll have to be in the field to understand…"

"Keep preaching," he suggested. "You might even start to believe it."

I smacked him.

He laughed and sat back on his heels to look up at me.

"I don't know…find some great cause or something," I mused. "Sanq doesn't really have a problem with poverty…or issues in our schools…go campaign for orphanages or something. There are still plenty of war orphans who could use homes. Go drown yourself in children…keep your mind off that boy."

"My mind is more on my wife," he noted.

"Sure it is," I agreed, smacking at his face. "I'll accept that."

"Asshole."

I considered my friend a long moment, knowing that the orphanage thing would be beyond him. He didn't have enough resources to do anymore than adopt a child or two, and I doubted Selena would be very happy with that. I grinned. "And if you're going to persist in finding me someone, just remember she can't be needy and she has to be able to understand that I get woken up in the middle of the night all the time, all right?"

He sniggered at that…and bit my thigh.

…somehow, it went downhill from there…and he absolutely _ran_ out of my office as I threw a paperweight after him.

- -

"What are you doing?" I demanded of Duo as he sat on me. "Why aren't you working?"

"Why aren't _you_ working?" he retorted, starting to mess with my buttons.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Because I'm the king and I can do what I will."

"I'm the king's right-hand man, and I can do _more_ than he wills."

I laughed at that, watching his eyes with interest. I'd nearly brushed him off, but then I'd recalled my thoughts the last time he'd done it and wondered what I should do with my _hands_.

"No," he added, stopping about half-way down to yawn. "Ryu decided he was hot shit and was half dressed this morning." He started to lay forward on me and changed his mind, rolling to the floor much like he had last time, resting his head back. "I was irritable for some reason and Quatre came storming in and told me to go home."

"I take it your irritability was getting the better of your work?"

"Yep," he yawned again. "So blondie forced me to his office where he told me to get a hobby because Selena's out of bounds until January."

I snorted at that.

"How the hell does Trowa keep from getting all pissy?" he added, shifting around to sit along the side of the couch and study my face. "You, even?"

"I kinda run a kingdom," I retorted, grinning slightly at him. "Trowa's job keeps him busy, too. You gonna be able to baby-sit for Faye's party?"

"I'm fine with the kids," I retorted. "It's you guys who annoy me," he flicked my shirt by the button he'd given up on.

I snorted at that, rolling onto my side to study his face. "You okay, really?"

"I'm fine," he admitted with a sigh, looking away from me. "I'm just tired."

"What were you shouting about?" I asked instead.

His eyes landed on mine.

"I figured someone would go chase you from your office and decided I may as well chase you down and poke you into admission."

"Who told you I was shouting?"

"Probably the same person who told Quatre…just some runner."

"I wonder who sent him," he muttered, looking away.

"What were you shouting about?"

"I dunno, kinda rambling," he grinned. "I was trying to freak him out, but he doesn't freak very well. Looked a little wild-eyed, but not doing more'n that."

"Ryu?" I asked, studying his face more.

He nodded.

"You like the Asians?" I teased, smirking slightly.

He hit me in the stomach without hesitation, giving me a very level look.

I laughed more, reaching over and pulling him to me by the head, hugging him very briefly before flopping over and starting to re-button my shirt.

"I'm gonna go back to bed," he muttered, rising and popping his neck. "You know how to find me if you need me."

"All right…you picking up Ash today?"

He thought and shrugged. "Probably, I don't remember…Selena should call soon to remind me."

I grinned at that as he moved from the room, then flopped back again and yawned.

A nap definitely sounded good.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Hey, Quatre."

I looked to the vid, raising my eyebrows at Sally.

"Just wanted to tell you it was a false lead," she muttered tiredly, rubbing at her eyes.

"Another one?"

She nodded, covering her eyes with her hand.

"So you have no idea where he is?" I asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. "He's just…gone?"

"Yes, sir," she agreed, swallowing.

"No information on him what-so-ever?"

"None."

"Did you at least figure out why he was trained?"

"Just an assassin," she returned, raising her eyes to mine again. "I'm sorry, Quatre."

"Don't apologize," I sighed, shifting back. "If he _is_ just an assassin, then there's no real reason for us to all be up in arms." I started messing with the cap of my pen. "Assassins are very good at slipping through nets, and chances are he's no actual threat to any of us…just some syndicate lackey. It means that that chase was more apt to be a waste of our time and effort."

She flinched at that.

"Talk to my men," I ordered, meeting her eyes. "If they want to keep hunting our blue-boy, then let them. If not, send them home. I'm sure I can find something for them to do."

"That was…three months…wasted effort," she protested.

"Three months works better than three years," I reminded her, shaking my head. "It's pointless to worry about it now."

"But his _training_…" she protested, frowning at me. "Just like you boys."

"Boys?" I demanded archly, cocking an eyebrow at her. "We'll never be men to you, will we?"

She laughed weakly at that, shaking her head.

"You did what I asked you to do," I reminded her. "No harm, no foul. If my guys care to keep chasing the shadow let them. I trust individual instincts more than bare-facts with this sort of thing."

"Yes, sir," she sighed.

"What else have you gotten for me?"

"Just the usual bullshit and breakfast menus."

"Wonderful," I smiled sweetly at her. "What did you have for breakfast?"

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, come on," I protested. "It's all in good fun..."

"And if I lie to you, will you know the difference?"

"Is your breakfast meal worth the man-power?"

She grinned at that and gave me a look. "I had eggs benedict with hash browns."

"Wrong!" I bounced happily. "You had a bowl of cereal."

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"No?" I protested, grinning more. "You strike me as a cereal with bad milk sorta person."

"Except that I pay enough attention to realize my milk is bad and get the eggs out."

I started laughing.

She shook her head at me…and disconnected.

"She hung up on me," I protested, looking up to Jacob. "Can you believe it?"

"Blue-boy?" he returned.

"It's a state secret, if I told you, I'd have to kill you…"

"Sally doesn't work for the state," he reminded me pleasantly.

I grinned in return.

- -

Things moved on.

I took Quatre's advice and found stuff to distract myself, because I knew on some level I was just being a baby. It wasn't fair of me to take it out on my staff, and least of all Ryu, who seemed to have enough father-figure issues without adding me being an asshole to the list. Shit, it wasn't his fault he was attractive, or his fault that my wife was pregnant.

Heheh, that was all me.

I grinned to myself.

"Sir?"

I looked up to the guy, who I'd had typing up reports for me.

"You were smiling," he shrugged, looking back to the keyboard.

"Why were you watching me?" I retorted.

"I paused to think and looked up," he shrugged almost uncomfortably.

"Okay, fine. Why couldn't you have waited until October to join?"

He looked away from me with a frown.

"Answer me, and I'll answer you," I noted, smiling happily at him before looking back to the paper I was reading.

"Can…you tell me why you didn't assume your position when the queen retook her throne?" he asked quietly.

"My fiancé was killed," I returned darkly, not looking up.

"I'm…sorry," he muttered, startled.

I figured he'd let the matter drop and get on with his work. He'd been perfectly content to keep his mouth shut before. Considering that Mikhail was only a month old when the celebration of Faye's birthday came up, on September seventeenth, I'd been informed that I got to change places with Hilde. She'd take care of the kids and I could sit pretty.

Actually, I still wasn't sure why Ro had made Ryu sit through the thing with us…

I grinned again at the comparisons of the name. Sure, Ro was the end of Heero's name and Ryu was Som's last name, but…it still amused me.

"You're smiling again," he muttered, glancing at me with his eyes.

I grinned even more.

He studied me a moment, then nodded. "I thought you married Mrs. Maxwell a year after you took your position."

"Only a year?" I mused, sitting back as I considered it. "It seemed like an eternity to me."

He blinked at me.

I shook my head, shifting forward again. Delaying my grief through hard avoidance had made the matter a severe issue for me. Sure, it'd been while we were getting Wufei from Jun that I'd finally _started_ to grieve, but that hadn't been a complete process. It didn't mean I wouldn't daydream about the girl from time to time, and I _had_ a wife and a daughter I wouldn't give up for the world, so then it made me guilty.

Not exactly the most pleasant of circles.

"You were alone at the queen's wedding," he noted.

I set my pen down and focused on him pointedly.

"Sorry," he muttered, going back to his work.

"If you must know, my fiancé died two years before I resumed my position, and as a matter of fact, the only time my friends _did_ see me was the day of their wedding."

He raised his eyes to mine, blinking.

"I wasn't _available_, to resume my position," I smirked slightly and went back to my work.

It wasn't until he was standing at the corner of the desk near me that I realized he'd moved, and that made me jump hard, staring at him in disbelief.

He kneeled down in front of me, staring up into my eyes. "That look means…" he glanced away. "You…ran, didn't you?"

I stared down at him in complete disbelief as my very helpful brain offered me several interesting options for him being where he was.

"How…did she die?"

I looked away as that image of blood on the sliding-glass door came to my mind, then Wufei's blood in the breezeway between the parking garage and the clubs in town.

Som's hand rested on mine, and considering that I had them both at the point where my lap started, the action got my instant attention.

"She was…shot," I returned, looking away from his eyes.

"Shot?" he whispered.

"She'd been…the girlfriend of someone with power," I noted, narrowing my eyes at him. "He hired an assassin."

He focused on my hand, moving his thumb gently over my knuckles, and I stared at the top of his head, not moving as I repressed the anger and grief once again.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

"Aren't we all," I agreed darkly, sighing slightly as the moment moved beyond our conversation without him so much as meeting my eyes.

His hand moved up my wrist slowly, gently, then down onto my leg. The pace gave me time to protest as it moved across my leg…and between my thighs.

My cell phone rang sharply and we both jumped hard as I grabbed it quickly from the desktop. "Maxwell."

"Sir Maxwell?" a polite sounding woman asked quietly as Ryu sat back.

"Speaking," I agreed, swallowing slightly and avoiding the guy's eyes as he started to stand.

"This is Sandra from Caracal elementary, and your daughter, Ashley?"

"Yeah?"

"She has a fever of about…thirty-eight Celsius…"

"Thirty-eight?" I repeated, doing the mental conversion. We tended to use Fahrenheit for fevers because it sounded more alarming when it got up there.

"Um…a hundred and one," she agreed.

"Damn," I grabbed my car keys and still refused to look at Ryu as I started around him for the door. "I'll be there in five minutes."

"All right. She's laying down now, but you'll definitely want to get her checked on."

"Of course," I agreed, hesitating in the door, feeling his eyes on me as I closed the phone. "I'm done for the day."

"Sir," he started, moving to follow me, but I pulled the door shut behind myself and moved toward the closest hall that led toward an exit as I heard my office door open again.

I really had a death-wish…honest and truly I wanted my wife to _kill_ me.

- -

Considering that Duo's job was more of the never-ending sort, and Selena couldn't very well care for the child when we kinda doubted she could see her own feet, it wasn't too surprising to find out that Duo'd gone to work and taken his daughter with him.

It was a little odd, sure, but not too surprising.

I moved into his office without knocking, since the five of us never knocked on any other's door unless they were with someone, and blinked as I realized he had the girl on his _lap_.

Ryu rose to his feet, saluting me instantly.

"As you were," I muttered quietly.

The thing about it was that Ashley was sleeping in Duo's arms.

"What'd the doctor say?" I asked, dropping into a seat across from my friend.

"Just a flu, probably a forty-eight hour bug."

"That's too bad…is she okay?" I studied the little girl's flushed cheek as best I could.

"She really likes that I'm holding her," he returned with a pleased little smile as typing started to my right. I glanced at Ryu a moment, studying him before looking back to Duo.

"What?" he asked, blinking at me.

"What?" I repeated, blinking back.

"He's just typing," Duo noted in Cantonese.

"I'm doing reports," Ryu noted in kind, looking to me again.

I grinned at him, then looked back to Duo.

Duo shook his head. "What's up?"

"If you got Alex a puppy Trowa would just kill you," I replied, smirking slightly at him.

"Probably, yeah," he smirked some. "I'm pretty sure her cat is fine though."

"It's healthy, I was just in there bothering Hilde and it was rubbing all over me…it doesn't mind Blackie in the slightest."

"I'm thinking another pet with the _infant_ in the place is a bad idea."

"Ah, second thoughts now that your own baby is coming of age?"

"Of age?" Ryu asked blankly.

Duo gave him a look.

"So how does this go? If you're not pissy you're disapproving?" I asked him blankly.

"Sorry, sir," Ryu muttered, looking away.

"He got Marlea Winner a kitten for her eighth birthday," I explained to the recruit. "That actually happened during the Deniel campaign…we owed Marlea a real birthday party when we'd finished, and he got Alex a cat, since she's actually older than Lea."

Ryu nodded, not looking at us.

"He promised Trowa back then that he'd get the new one a puppy when it turned seven…the new one being Dustin Barton."

He nodded his acknowledgement.

Duo'd probably been bitching at him before I got in, considering his mood, so I let it pass, looking back to the knight.

"I shouldn't have gotten Dust the puppy," Duo noted with a sigh. "I didn't think how close to her due date Hilde was when I did it."

I nodded, frowning as I realized that. "But I want to get her a puppy."

"Do it for her seventeenth," he suggested with a grin. "Some girls get cars, but our girls get pets."

I laughed at that…which made Ash's eyes open and she focused on me. She blinked once or twice, then sat up to look at me properly.

"Hey, love," I greeted her.

"Uncle," she muttered, thinking about it, then looked back to Duo. "I'm cold, Daddy."

"I had you covered," he retorted, pulling her blanket back up around her.

"Uncle, hold me?" she muttered.

I sniggered at Duo, moving around the desk to take the girl from him. "I'm expecting a call," I noted, pulling her to me as she shifted herself to be comfortable. "She have any medicine?"

"She needs two tablespoons of this at noon," he returned, picking up a small purple bottle and tucking it into my pocket. "Wake her up if she's sleeping. She's still fighting the fever. If she wants me then just call me."

I nodded at that, shifting her around as I felt her eyelashes against my throat and grinned.

"Just like that?" Ryu asked blankly.

"What?" I asked, focusing on him. "Just like what?"

"You're just going to walk out of here with her?"

"I don't know if you noticed or not," Duo noted dryly, "but she called him uncle. If she wants him, she can have him." He smirked, meeting my eyes. "Lord knows, I don't want him."

I laughed at him. "Fuck you…later, Ryu, don't let him get under your skin."

"_Ha_," Duo retorted. "Fei, don't get her a puppy…they have enough of a handful with Dusty's."

"Yeah, yeah," I agreed wryly. "What should I get her, then?"

"Kidnap her and take her shopping. I'm sure with the baby and Dust she's getting a little neglected."

That worked. I nodded at him and headed out the door.

- -

"Listen…sir," Ryu muttered a few minutes after Wufei left. "Yesterday…I…"

"Leave it," I ordered, focusing on the papers I should have been typing up all morning. My daughter worked as a perfect procrastination device.

Som fell quiet for a long moment before sighing. "I'm sorry for prying."

I looked up at him, blinking as I remembered he'd been asking me about Kayla.

"I know it's none of my business…your personal life…but…"

"Let's work this as something along the lines of ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies, huh? Let well enough alone."

"I said I was sorry."

I shook my head at him, starting to type.

"You can't deny it," he snapped, starting to type a little harder than was necessary.

I really doubted that had anything to do with his apology.

"What?" I asked levelly.

"Nothing," he snapped. "Never mind."

- -

"Hello, Majesty."

"Hey, Tomé," I muttered, narrowing my eyes at the guy. "What do you need?"

"I reworked my request," he explained, setting a folder in front of me. "I took into account what Maxwell had been saying and tried to work with that."

I narrowed my eyes slightly as I remembered he'd half attempted to get Duo in trouble for not having me guarded. Of course, he'd tempered this with meeting with Jun and talking about getting Duo out of power by scandal. It'd been a few months since that had happened, and I'd all but forgotten it.

"Can you read it now?" he asked, pursing his lips. "I don't mean to intrude, but…" he trailed off and shrugged slightly.

"But you want me to read it before Duo comes around?" I asked, grinning at him. "That's a novel conceit. Why are you so intent on making him hate you?"

He frowned at me.

"Seriously, you don't want Duo as an enemy," I set the folder on top of a large pile I already had to work through for the day. "He's in a bad enough mood without you adding to it. I'll read it as soon as I can, but," I indicated the stack.

He didn't meet my eyes, and I could see him thinking some very unpleasant things before he nodded and met my eyes, nodding his head in a sort of bow before rising to his feet.

I was going to let Duo read that damn file unless I absolutely had nothing better to do, and the fact that I held half the power of the country meant that I had plenty to do, and it'd be a miracle if I got it all done.

Tomé walked from the room.

I considered the door a moment, then shifted back in my seat.

Sometimes, it bothered me how petty I could get…and sometimes I decided it wasn't really worth the effort.

- -

E/N: Hey, Race! Thanks for the reviews...oh, and this isn't part of the "The Escape" series (south america one)...next story in that'd be story 4, and I haven't gotten any ideas for it yet. Selena IS Nira, yes. Nira's her nickname...and yeah...just in case, hehe. Anyway, yeah, I'll get this one killed yet, lmao...or something, ne? Hope you're all enjoying it...standard disclaimers apply.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

I laughed at Jun in complete disbelief as I studied his eyes. "You're _not_ serious, are you?"

He frowned at me.

"You honestly think I'm still the fucking lunatic?" I demanded. "Hate to break it to you, but wonderland crashed and burned about seven years ago with a loud bang…and did you _forget_ that I was taking _food_ to Chang?"

Jun's eyes narrowed.

"I worked my way into your guard and talked you into letting me stay at your place to _take_ him food, and you're asking me to go…do a job for you? Was it the years of prison or the months of alcohol that got you down?"

"Fuck you," he snapped, shoving away from the table.

"You forget, Jun," I noted, studying him seriously. "The vorpal blade went snicker-snack and the jabberwocky lost its head. Turns out it wasn't a dream, it was a bad trip, and unless you want his majesty to take up that vorpal blade again, I suggest you cherish your apartment, because until you're off probation, you can't leave Sanq or get any random funds. Get your own job, huh? And don't ask me to kill for you anymore."

"Maxwell," he said, meeting my eyes pointedly. "You hate him as much as I."

…that had to be the _stupidest_ thing I'd ever heard.

He really wanted me to kill my own brother-in-law and thought I _hated_ the father of my niece?

"Leave this fool's errand in the rabbit hole and come back to the real world," I suggested in his ear as I started away.

He caught my wrist before I could, narrowing his eyes at me. "You took food to Chang?"

"I also watched you sprinkle kaseen on food you swore to him was untainted," I agreed darkly. "You're worse than a fool, Martin. Didn't prison remind you that you don't always get your way? If you only realized how convoluted this job is you'd laugh yourself to tears."

He thought a long moment, meeting my eyes. "Did you tell him?"

"I didn't _have_ to," I retorted, yanking from his grasp. "Not only that, but Maxwell was up to see him that same day they took you down."

Jun's eyes widened as he turned to look at me.

"Oh, look at that," I mimicked a stunned tone half-assed. "Oh, it must be End Game's building," I made a sharp gesture as if motioning someone by me without looking away from his eyes.

Jun jumped to his feet with his cheeks flushed, jumping at me.

"I drugged you, you know," I whispered in his ear. "I mixed you a nice drink with a nice sedative that put you out."

The frustration at this showed in his eyes as he shoved at me like there was nothing else he knew he could do.

"I ruined Maxwell's life once," I hissed, being sure we were eye to eye. "I took his love from him once, and that's a sin amongst thieves. Maybe you didn't realize it, but he was chasing _me_ around the world for two years…only to spare my life when I had nowhere to go and nothing left to offer against him. You meet my eyes and ask me to kill him, but forget to notice that he has a _family_."

"He threatened my life," Jun hissed back, no longer shoving at me. "The day I got out he told me he'd kill me."

"He told me he'd kill me, too," I noted, thinking back to the man's face when we'd meet in a packed place and how he'd sweet-talk me with death threats.

He settled back, blinking.

"Leave Maxwell alone," I hissed at him, noting one of Quatre's spies not far away. I assumed it was Quatre's, anyway. "Let him live his life and keep under his radar, live out your probation and get on with your life. You don't want to fuck with the Cheshire Cat, Jun. There's only one way out of the tulgey wood, and we're _all_ mad here."

Jun shifted back where he stood, staring at me with a look of…loss…in his eyes. More like he was lost than anything else.

"Stay out of my life," I whispered at him. "You bring pox in your wake."

I left him standing there without further hesitation and stormed into the cool night air.

I'd been his friend once. We'd laughed and joked over the tale of Alice in Wonderland and compared our world to that on long nights when we weren't quite drunk. His passing obsessions hadn't bothered either of us until Duo had really started pissing him off, and then it all had crashed around us.

Once, Heero and I'd shared Deniel. Once, we'd been the ones to call if you wanted someone rubbed-out, gotten rid of…pushing up daisies. Once, I'd had wealth beyond my wildest dreams as I danced through syndicates with nearly unlimited power…but then I'd killed Kayla and the dance became a sprint of terror. I'd killed that little auburn haired girl and everything had exploded into chaos…starting with Gray Day itself. Duo'd killed all but the woman of their council and that didn't automatically mean she'd be the next in charge.

Not that I'd been there. I'd been running to Selena and then on, praying the Cheshire Cat wouldn't appear above me with that eerie grin…

He had, too. The asshole'd been on a tree branch and as I'd gotten closer to it one night going through a park, he'd shifted just enough forward that I could see about half of him…and _that_ was an image of nightmares. It was that _touch_ of that grin and the vague tilt of his eyes with that knife in his hand…before a small group of joggers had appeared on the path and berated me for going out on my own, how the park was dangerous and I shouldn't have even thought about going it alone, and that if I could try to pick up my pace, they'd continue their jog with me in their area.

…They hadn't had to wait for me.

I ran a hand down my face, then started toward my car.

I hadn't completely given up the assassin's gig. I'd gotten a call saying I should meet a client at the bar, and had waited there until Jun had shown up calling me Ace.

I decided to head back to the castle. The city was nice enough, but not worth the hassle having one of Quatre's guy's tailing me would create.

Actually, I wasn't sure if I was being followed or if Jun was.

It didn't matter. I really just needed to get _away_ from Jun Martin.

- -

I raised my eyes to Keith's as he moved into my office with an almost wary look on his face.

"What are _you_ doing here?" I demanded of him in disbelief.

"I saw…" he stopped talking as he noticed Ryu looking at him with interest.

I snapped my fingers and pointed at the door, which caused the boy to stare at me in disbelief before gathering his things up and storming from the room without so much as a yes-sir behind him.

I looked back to my brother-in-law.

"Jun tried to hire me to kill you," he hissed, moving to bend over the desk so we'd be eye to eye. "He didn't realize I was helping Wufei when I was staying with him."

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"He's…I dunno, Duo, he really _hates_ you."

"A lot of people hate me," I noted, tilting my head at the man.

He frowned at me, evidently hurt by this.

"Listen, Keith," I muttered, setting my pen down to meet his eyes, "your sister is nine months pregnant, and if you know me at _all_ then you'll realize that I'm in a _very **very**_ bad mood right now."

"So was the spy on me or on Jun?" he asked levelly.

"I'm not the internal affairs guy, brother. I do grounds security, and I'm making a note that I need to be called next time you come onto the grounds because there's this urge I have to pull out my _firearm_ every time I **_see_** you."

He shifted back, looking away from me as he started shaking his head.

"Go talk to Quatre," I suggested, sighing. "He won't lie to you…and honestly, I don't see a reason to spy on you."

He opened his mouth, then thought about it and stopped. "When does Ash get home from school?"

"She gets off at three. Nira's up in the apartment right now, but Q will be in his office."

The man turned and started for the door.

"Hey, Ace?"

He turned to give me a very level look.

"Sorry for snapping at you, I've had a tense month or two."

That got a nod and the respectful sort of bow of the head people gave when they really respected me.

"If you're staying around, Lex's birthday is Saturday, and Ash's is in two weeks."

He nodded again as he thought about that, then turned and disappeared into the hall.

Ryu moved to the door, looking at me a moment before looking away.

"Come in," I suggested. "It was a private conversation and he's obviously gone now."

He moved into the room and closed the door with a sigh, sitting back on the chair and looking to me.

"Look at it this way. You're here for a week and a half, then you get to move into the regular military."

"Is that supposed to be a relief to me, or to you?"

I raised my eyebrows at him.

He rolled his eyes and resituated his papers out around him the way he'd had them before.

"If you think my problem is that you were trying to touch my cock, you're very wrong," I noted pointedly.

He focused on me in disbelief.

"I just get real antsy when my wife is unavailable, and you strike a nerve. Your attitude is cute and all, but I could get it out of any one of the soldiers down in the barracks."

The hardness in his eyes turned to pain.

I shook my head, biting off the rest of the tear-you-down condescension and focusing back on the paper I'd been typing up. "Just for your information, those two years I wasn't available were because I was running around the world and screwing anyone who caught my attention for more than five minutes."

That made his eyes widen very slightly.

"So spare me your teenage angst," I noted, meeting his eyes again. "Do your job, and if you want to _play_, don't beat around the bush, because my wife knows I ain't no saint, and she'd probably be grateful I found something to do."

That got another widening of the eyes before he looked away.

I rolled my eyes, and really focused on my report.

- -

A brief moment of anger burst through my stomach as I focused on Keith with narrowed eyes.

He shut the door behind himself, studying me seriously.

"Hope the sign-posts didn't mislead you," I noted, focusing back on my computer screen. "Mad Hatter's tea part is down the next hall."

"Me or Jun?" he retorted, moving to stand across from me.

I met his eyes.

"Me, or Jun," he repeated in a would-be-calm voice. "Are you having me followed?"

"You're not interesting enough to waste man-power on," I retorted. "Jun's been trying to get Duo killed or out of office for months now. I have to admit that I was wondering what you'd say to him."

"He's my _twin_ sister's husband," he snapped at me angrily.

"I didn't say I thought you'd accept the job," I retorted. "I said I wanted to know what you'd say—why you'd turn him down."

He settled some.

"If you don't mind, I have things to do."

"Down the next hall, you say?" he demanded, turning back to the door. "I'll be sure to fetch you the pepper."

"Hahaha," I retorted as he left the room as quickly as he'd entered it.

That had been somewhat interesting, at least it was different from the normal hum-drum of a spy's life…

Okay, that was amusing.

I shook my head and went back to typing as my line started beeping. I hit the button without looking up.

"Yo," Reiko muttered. "Poe only sent one paladin back."

I turned to focus on him, then recalled our conversation when I'd told him to send the three men and raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to chase her down?"

"No, I told her to ask them what they wanted to do."

"Isn't that wasting man hours?"

"International cases get paid by international means."

"Fine, you can be the boss."

"And you can be the bitch," I retorted, meeting his eyes again.

He flashed me an evil grin, and hung up.

I rolled my eyes and disconnected my line as well.

Some days…

- -

"Heyo, babeh," I muttered to Keith as he moved tiredly into my bedroom. "Why are you here?"

"Why does everyone ask me that?" he retorted, kicking his shoes off and moving to crawl onto the bed with me. He situated himself by my head and then ran a hand over my belly. "You'll call him babeh, won't you?"

I grinned at him, moving the hair from his eyes as he sighed.

"Jun was trying to get me to…"

"Quatre told us," I reassured him, moving slightly away from him to lay normally on my part of the bed. "He came knocking on the door at some god awful time last night and told Duo about it when Duo answered."

"So he knew?" my brother frowned slightly. "I thought he was playing a bit nonchalant."

"Actually, he doesn't care," I reassured him with a grin, then frowned. "He's not happy."

"He's pissy when he needs laid," Keith retorted. "Get him to screw that little boy in his office."

I snorted at that, smacking him.

"Sorry, I went in there to tell him what Jun was doing and he was being an ass to me…he did the closest thing to being friendly that he could before I walked out. You okay? You two all right?"

"He's fine with me," I smiled. "He keeps telling me he's not getting me pregnant again, but I don't believe him."

Keith grinned at that.

I rolled my eyes slightly. "I'm not worried about our relationship…but _he's_ not telling us something."

"Like what? Get Quatre to figure it out."

"It's not that kind of something," I mused, thinking about it. "He stopped doing that shit back in July. He's…not happy or something."

"Considering that he spent most of his life actively doing shit, like saving the world, I don't imagine sitting around here playing muscle-man suits him."

"Maybe," I conceded. "Why _are_ you back here, anyway?"

"I wanted to see my sister," he noted with his lie-grin.

"Oh really?" I asked dryly. "You know you're so full of shit I can see it in your eyes, don't you?"

"Of course, they're a reflection of yours."

I giggled, smacking him.

"Mm," he rolled over to face the bathroom, "what's with that kid, anyway?"

"I dunno, I think he came-on to Duo or something. He told me he was bi…that kind of thing annoys the shit out of my dear darling knight and he wouldn't want to repeat it to me."

"Getting hit on, or having to refuse?"

I kicked him.

He laughed, turning his head to meet my eyes a moment. "He looked murderous when Duo pointed at the door and snapped his fingers."

I choked on that.

"He got his shit and stormed out and had this cute little petulant look on his face when I left."

"Cute?" I asked wryly. "Keith, you've _never_ been one to look at boys."

"Especially boys that might not be legal," he agreed with a smirk. "It was cute like Lex and Lea. That same kind of 'daddy snapped at me' look."

I snorted.

"Quatre told me the tea party was down the hall, but I couldn't find it."

"Huh?"

He snorted. "Jun always made Alice in Wonderland references when we were friends…it's kinda how Duo became the cat. I was feeling clever last night and noted that the vorpal blade went snicker-snack, but Jun didn't appreciate the humor."

I laughed a bit.

"I added in about fifteen references for good measure and took off on him…remind me to buy a thing of pepper for Quatre."

"Do I want to know?" I asked curiously, studying him.

He shrugged. "Probably not…doesn't matter anyway. He'd know about it before I did it."

"No, he only plays that game with Duo, and that's with his trained monkeys that'll do his bidding without needing paid."

"What?"

"Duo likes to connive, and Quatre's work is conniving. Quatre tries to figure out what Duo's special gift for him is before he gets it and Duo tries not to let him know it. I live with a bunch of boys, babeh. Have you grown up yet?"

"Of course I have!" he sniggered. "Until I stop pretending."

I laughed at that, kicking lightly at him again.

"I wanna _sleep_, Nira," he whined at me. "Stop _kicking_ me."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, curling slightly toward him without touching him.

We _were_ twins, even if no one else remembered that. I hoped I could sleep through the look on my husband's face when he saw us, but I wasn't kicking my brother out of my bed when the only reason was my husband knew how to whine like a pro.

Shit, considering Duo being who he was, he probably _was_ the pro, and all the other complainers looked up to _him_ for leadership.

- -

E/N: That was odd...I put this chapter up once and it cut out the last scene...so let's try this again...


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"I couldn't do it for Alex," I muttered sweetly to Duo. "What with Mikhail and all…I just couldn't do that, so I didn't. But I had this urge for a puppy, lover," I added the affection in Cantonese.

"It's beautiful, uncle," Ashley whispered, stroking her hand gently down the back of her brand new puppy as it sniffed at her curiously.

"I hoped you'd like it," I reassured her, stroking the thing's chin.

Maybe it'd been rude of me, seeing as Selena was due in about a month and a half, but it was the same thing Duo'd done with Dusty.

Duo popped his neck, watching his daughter without responding to me.

"Duo?" I asked, looking up to him again.

He met my eyes, almost like I'd startled him out of his thoughts.

"You didn't hear me, did you?" I accused.

"We should name it Wufei," he whispered to his little girl.

Ash's mouth rounded in an almost offended O.

"Ass…" I started.

"See how he's standing perfectly," Duo added to her…not even looking at me as he indicated the animal's stance and brought me up short. "It looks kinda like a martial arts stance, ne?"

"Yeah," she noted, tilting her head as she ran her hand down his black back. "And his hair is like raven," she looked at me. "Like his," she noted to her father, also not seeing me.

"And he loves the attention," Duo noted in a tone that _was_ for me.

"Yeah," she agreed with that innocence that meant she had no idea what her father _really_ meant.

Duo met my eyes, his own glowing. "Considerate of you, lover," he also added the affection in Cantonese.

I grinned at him, then pet the puppy more as it sat down and licked at Ashley's palm. He'd taken right to the girl when I'd passed him over, and the whole thing about it was that I'd made sure he was a submissive creature. There was no way in hell Duo would have been able to tolerate a dominant dog, so when I'd found the litter—a little girl in the park'd had them with a free-sign—I'd gone through them all and found three that were on the calm end, and tested them all by holding them with their belly's exposed to me. This one hadn't met my eyes, but the other two had.

I gave Duo a look.

"I don't know _why_ I'm not jealous of you two," Selena muttered, moving into the room from the hall. "For some reason I can't find you a threat, Wufei."

"That's either really good, or really offensive," I noted, raising my eyes to hers. "What say you?"

There was a firm knock on the door and Duo's very sudden and intent focus caught both our attention.

Selena started for the door, but Duo stopped her before moving with that same intense focus. I could see hints of his difference in those movements, like he was barely controlling himself or forcing himself very hard to do it.

"Sir," I heard Ryu's voice. "You needed me?"

I saw the smirk cross his face before he stepped back, making a gesture of invitation to the place and muttering pleasantries to the young man.

It'd been a week and a half since Ryu had formally entered as a trainee to our boot-camp. He'd had some sloppy manners initially, but I hadn't bothered myself with him at all. I'd known he'd assumed he'd get special treatment for being around so long, not to mention that the only chastisement offered him while he was _with_ Duo was that he needed to wear a proper uniform. He'd had a chip on his shoulder, and the fact that I didn't acknowledge him in ranks would bring him back down to earth.

He stepped into the apartment with a curious look on his face before seeing me and falling instantly into formal stance.

"As you were," I reassured him, gesturing at him slightly. "We're not on duty."

"Sir," he muttered, then bowed somewhat to Selena and focused on Ash curiously.

"It's my daughter's birthday today," Duo noted, gesturing toward us. When Ryu started for us uncertainly, Selena rolled her eyes as her husband looked the recruit over in a way I knew he'd only do in front of his wife—and that didn't mean it was an innocent consideration. "You can get brownie points or do as you're told."

Ryu smiled in an almost shy fashion. "I kinda like the first option better."

"I thought you might…" the American noted. "I just wanna know where my points would come in handy."

That made Ryu _really_ smile. "I don't see where it'd hurt," he noted happily.

"My wife, boy," Duo teased in Cantonese.

Ryu grinned and turned to look at the woman to see her response.

Selena…snapped her fingers, pointing at the ground as she studied her husband's eyes.

Duo shifted his weight back and shook his head very slightly at her.

"Daddy," Ashley reprimanded.

Duo gave her a slightly disbelieving look.

Ryu was staring at Selena with very wide eyes.

"You don't have to worry," Selena noted, giving him a small smile. "My husband has more energy than is good for him and needs to simmer-down before I remind him why he got into that fight with the king before we got married."

I smirked as Ryu looked to me for guidance.

Duo laughed an evil laugh that made the recruit shift to one side to look at him properly.

"That's an adult laugh," Ashley informed him, rolling her eyes. "He's thinking adult things and will tell you to ask when you're older."

Duo laughed a naughtier laugh.

"From the mouth of babes," I noted, focusing on the knight.

"What?" Duo protested. "You _want_ me to tell her what I'm thinking?"

"I'm more noting that your _seven_ year old daughter knows when you're thinking adult thoughts."

"No," she shook her head at me. "No, _for_ adults only. They're usually stupid thoughts."

Selena laughed delightedly, touching her daughter's shoulders approvingly.

"That's just cruel," Duo pouted to the recruit. "I'm outnumbered for another three years, at least, and then my baby's gonna wanna keep his mommy happy."

"The endeavor of all intelligent men," Ryu noted, smiling slightly at her.

I looked away at the same time as Duo.

"You _are_ a smart boy," Selena noted happily.

Ryu blinked at her as it connected in his mind that _someone_ would have told her he was smart in order for her to say that, then turned to look at us.

"Why don't we get to the point where you tell him what you want him to do," Selena suggested.

Duo's mouth opened, and I could see the glow in his eyes as Selena watched him expectantly and Ryu started to turn and look at him.

I smacked him hard in the arm and he absolutely died laughing, dancing out of arm's reach as the puppy jumped and ran behind Ashley at the sudden movement.

Ryu's eyes went wide as he looked to the knight and I uncertainly.

"I need you to run some papers to central for me," Duo added, meeting Ryu's eyes. "I also need a couple files from my office…and if you're not otherly engaged, you can feel free to hang out for the party."

"I…I'm supposed to report to the mess hall at noon," he said quietly.

I grinned at the guy and looked to Duo as Duo looked to me and we smirked at each other.

"What?" he asked us, looking down to Ashley as she moved and grabbed his wrist and blinking.

"Daddy's in charge of everything," she explained. "And Wufei is in charge of everything else…and Trowa, and Quatre, and Heero."

Ryu's eyes widened as the girl's negligent reference to the king and all his knights made sense to him.

"And Aunt 'Lena is the _queen_. If Daddy says you stay, then you stay." Ryu kneeled down so they were eye to eye as she went on. "He makes everyone run in circles, my mom says so. He says _do it **now**_ in his mean voice and if they don't do it they end up out on the street."

"Your daddy ever use his mean voice on you?"

"No!" she protested, evidently offended. "My daddy's nice to me! Mom says he _spoils_ me."

"From the mouths of babes," Duo noted to me.

Ryu grinned and nodded, then leaned forward almost like imparting a secret. "He uses his mean voice on me."

She giggled wickedly, but the puppy jumped up and licked at her…and for some reason this translated into chase as she disappeared into her bedroom.

"Uh," Ryu rose to his feet and looked at us. "What papers, sir?"

Duo's smile…wasn't his normal smile…and Ryu returned an innocent smile that stated this was normal and that he had no idea what it truly meant.

Selena rolled her eyes.

"Here I thought someone would have gotten the child a puppy," Heero protested from the door.

Ryu's eyes flashed before he looked to the door with that expression of disbelief that made me realize that he'd never been in the king's presence…at least, not casually. "Majesty," he almost whispered, bowing low.

"Ryu," Heero greeted like he was surprised. "Haven't been leading my knight astray have you, boy?"

"I'm gonna kick your ass," Duo started, stepping forward.

"I meant Wufei," Heero half-confided.

I started sniggering as Ryu blinked at me in confusion.

"Good to know you have a guilty conscious," Heero added in Japanese.

"Adult thoughts, huh?" Ryu asked in kind.

I laughed delightedly.

"You speak this?" Heero asked sweetly.

"I speak many languages, sir," Ryu ducked his head.

"Makes it rather difficult for us to have our normal conversations," Heero noted to me in Russian.

"Um," Ryu thought.

"Oh good," Heero smiled sweetly at him, then looked back to Duo. "Where's the puppy?"

"Ash!" Duo called, looking to her room.

"Coming, Daddy," Ashley replied, coming out of the room…with the puppy on her heels.

Duo gestured at it for Heero's benefit.

"Uncle!" Ash squeaked, darting across the room to absolutely _jump_ into his arms.

"Happy birthday, baby-girl," Heero muttered. "You like the puppy? Wufei thought he was being sneaky when he carried him through my apartment."

Ashley giggled a wicked little giggle that sounded almost exactly like her father's.

"Unnerving, I know," I muttered to the recruit as he looked up at the man. "She's just as cute as her father, but she's a little girl. She has us all wrapped neatly around her finger."

"Daddy?" Faye asked, moving into the room.

At this, Ryu's breath caught.

"Daddy, can you put my stupid hair up?"

"Nope," Heero replied. "I found someone I like more than you."

Faye giggled, swatting his butt before tugging at Ashley's ankle.

"My dad can do it," Ash noted, looking down to her cousin. "He does my hair more than my mom."

"Faye? Ro?" Relena asked, moving into the apartment.

Ryu bowed low to her and held it, and I got the feeling he wasn't even looking at her feet.

"Oh, Ryu," she muttered in a pleased fashion. "What are you doing here, darling?" she brushed her fingers through his hair as she moved to take Ash from her husband.

Ryu raised his head to look at her with very wide eyes.

She smiled at him, kissing Ash's cheek. "Happy birthday, huh? Oh, do stand up," she added. "That can't be comfortable, no matter how worked your abs are."

His cheeks colored as he straightened and looked at me.

"There are two files on my desk," Duo added, moving toward the kitchen counter. He gathered up a folder and passed it to the boy. "Take these to central." He passed the kid a single key. "Come back here with them immediately."

"Yes, sir," he muttered, taking the key and turning toward the door before stopping and bowing low to Relena again…then ran.

"He's cute," Relena noted, looking over to me. "You sure you're not screwing him?"

Ashley and Faye gasped as Duo smacked a hand to his forehead.

"Oops," Relena noted, blinking.

"That is so beyond _bad_," Heero retorted, staring at her disbelievingly. "Can you _stop_ warping our children? We don't expect any more from Duo, but you…" the man quickly jumped away backwards, since both Relena and Duo had moved at him.

"_That_ was beyond bad," I reprimanded him as the puppy sniffed at his feet. "You don't _say_ it in front of _**both**_ of them!"

Duo laughed happily as Relena huffed…and Ashley broke into giggles since the puppy had hopped up to lick her foot.

I grinned, moving up beside Som as he watched the kids around us in amazement. "You look startled."

He glanced at me, but looked away quickly. "You don't really seem like a…child person," he explained. "I wouldn't imagine you having so many around."

"I love children," I countered, leaning against the wall to watch them cavorting with the puppy around my living room. It was October twenty-third, and the weather out of doors was blustery. "My daughter is the biggest blessing of my life, and she's going to know it from here to eternity."

"So you do spoil her?" he asked, glancing at me again.

"Horribly," I agreed with a grin. "Kinda like Heero and Faye," I pointed across the room where the man was holding his daughter.

"I still can't believe the entire royal family showed up while I was there this morning."

"We used to live in a house together, there was no avoiding Heero then."

Som smiled at me again—it was a cute smile.

"Once I was a fairly devout catholic," I noted, studying my friend across the room as he looked to me curiously. "Drove him absolutely insane."

"You?" Som asked blankly. "But I thought, I mean…"

"I lost my faith when my fiancé died," I explained, brushing my hair from my face as Heero focused on my companion and his eyes narrowed. "I went out and did everything short of incest or treason."

That got me a real look. Little boy wasn't meeting my eyes much anymore. Hadn't been since just before he joined the actual army.

"I don't have a family, so the first would be hard. The second would have put me on the map to be found."

Heero was picking his way through the children, setting Faye down by Ash.

"You ever take kaseen?"

Som's eyes went very wide as he met mine.

I grinned at him a bit evilly, taking another drink of my soda. "Majesty."

Som instantly bowed, though I doubted he'd realized the man was there.

"Oh, stop that," Heero muttered, making a brush away gesture at the boy. "What are you doing, sir knight?"

"Picking up a bedmate at my daughter's birthday party," I retorted, meeting his eyes.

"I wouldn't put it past you," he noted, blinking languidly at me.

"So let me know next time you and 'Lena fight," I suggested.

He raised an eyebrow at me, then looked to my toy. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Som muttered, looking down. "Kinda nice to be out of the barracks. They're nice and all, but…"

"It's just so you react to orders, you know," he returned. "That way when you're in combat you don't start thinking for yourself."

Som flashed him an almost guilty grin.

"You have _no_ idea," I informed the boy. "He was raised to have no emotions."

"Sucks a little bit," Heero noted, thinking about it. "Took me a year or two to get out of the habit, and I still fall back on apathy before finding the emotion." Heero moved to stand on the other side of the boy. "Get me pissed enough and I just do whatever I'm gonna do…but that never once included males," he added pointedly to me.

"The lord forgives all sin," I retorted with another grin as I sipped at my glass. "And the devil fucks us all."

Som was blinking at me in disbelief.

"You're a married man, sir knight," he retorted.

"Now, whatever makes you think I was discussing the state of _my_ marriage, Majesty?"

He started laughing at that as Som frowned at me as if asking what the hell we were talking about.

"Sorry," I returned. "Heero and I have been secret lovers since we were fifteen."

Heero, who'd been in the middle of taking his drink, spit half of it out before covering his mouth with one hand and _looking_ at me as several other party members looked to us in confusion and Relena started grabbing napkins.

"_What_?" Som asked in sheer disbelief.

"You're not supposed to _tell_ people," Heero protested at me…and we both died laughing.

Som was looking between us with wide and guilty eyes as Relena moved to stand in front of her husband with an expectant demanding look, offering the napkins.

"Sorry," Heero returned, wiping at his mouth. "Duo was telling state secrets again."

I laughed even harder as Som's cheeks colored.

"What _did_ you say?" she demanded, studying the boy. "You know not to believe what they say don't you?"

I was laughing even harder.

"They pretend I don't know they've been lovers, but they aren't very good at being sneaky."

And…we died laughing again as Relena giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Um…" Som wasn't looking at any of us.

"Heero is woefully straight," I informed the kid. "Obviously Relena is worried about his jokes, huh?"

She laughed more, smacking lightly at me before giving her husband a look.

"What?" he protested. "I didn't say anything."

Relena smacked him as well as he started to laugh, then leaned forward to kiss him.

"Hurry up and have the baby," he ordered her, kissing her again.

"Haha_ha_!" I informed him. "_**Ha!**_"

Som blinked at me.

Heero gave me a look, and Relena leaned over to kiss my cheek before smiling and rolling her eyes to Som and starting away.

"Ha," I added.

"Oh, shut-up," Heero ordered, rolling his eyes at me.

"Oh no," I returned, grinning more at him. "This is _my_ moment, and I'm going to _glory_ in it."

Heero started laughing weakly, and I decided to focus on the recruit.

- -

E/N: I meant to update, but seems to be having issues. sorry about that...and thanks to Niko for giving me this idea...

Now for a bit of admitance that's been giving me a headache for the last hour as I tried to sort it out. My math was screwey. I lost my line of thought somewhere in the middle and that stunted thought process got in the way. The older girls, that is Alex and Marlea, are turning sixteen. I'm not sure why I was thinking they were fourteen turning fifteen, but I was, and it messed me up really bad. I'm going to go through and fix that now. Sorry...I didn't realize how off it was. There was a reference in chapter one with Heero noting the girls weren't quite fifteen. In chapter four, Heero was thinking they were all thirty or thirty-one, but they're all thirty-two or thirty-three. In seven, Marlea got her kitten at EIGHT (I may or may not have gotten that wrong in Reign, don't hurt me) and the second is Duo telling Wufei to get Alex a puppy for her sixteenth with the note about some kids getting cars. I fixed it to read "seventeenth" so the joke isn't as valid, but it still works. I'm over here kicking my own ass about this, because it's just SO bad...but yes. At least it was ony four things, right? Sorry...


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

I forced myself not to slam the doors to the apartment before starting to storm toward Heero's place…but he'd ask me what was wrong. I frowned at the door, then considered going to bitch to Wufei. Unfortunately, Nira had stated that she hadn't said anything to anyone else, so if he'd noticed my mood at all, this topic would be the opening he'd need to start needling at me, too.

It wasn't like I was _trying_ to show my wife that the job was discontenting. I didn't want her to be upset about me getting bored. She was going to have my baby in a month and a half…she didn't need to be worried about me on top of all that.

How had she even noticed?

I stormed down the stairs at the far end of the hall…well, quietly. I didn't want anyone coming out to question me…

"Hey," Jacob muttered happily to me as he pulled his apartment door shut. "Oh…what's wrong?"

"I need laid, you game?"

He laughed at that, waiting for me to join him.

Yeah, great joke.

"I'm going on a walk," I noted, turning toward the back doors.

"You all right?" he asked, half skipping to keep up with me.

"Jacob," I said levelly.

"What?" he protested, grabbing my arm.

I slammed him against the wall, moving in face to face with him as he probably realized my question hadn't only been a joke.

"I need to be alone right now," I whispered at him, studying his eyes. "Or I'm going to do something my wife and I will both regret."

He met my eyes again.

I moved away from him, running my hands over my face, then turned and shoved into the cool night air.

I wasn't particularly happy about anything going on, and other than helping my daughter figure out how to control her pet, nothing was available for me to distract myself with.

It was very hard not to start shouting at my wife.

I rubbed at my neck as I leaned against a tree. There was a large portion of the grounds that was a mini forest. Some past king of the country had been an avid bird-watcher and had the thing grown up for future generations. I wasn't sure why it hadn't gotten burnt down when the castle had been destroyed when we were all two or three, but I wasn't going to complain.

I really did _need_ to find something to do. I couldn't get away with going clubbing, because that had always been for the drugs or someone to sleep with—or both.

I may not look for someone to bed, but I had a feeling I'd do the drugs if I tried.

I didn't need to start doing that…not in my position.

I turned and plunged more into the forest. There were grounds workers who went through and tore up any brambles or disgusting weeds, so it wasn't like I really needed to watch where I was going, even in the dark…I just wanted to get out of sight for a while.

At the center of the forest was a kind of memorial plaque for the king who'd started it, and the stone of it stood about waist high. It didn't take me long to reach the thing, and I sighed as I pulled myself onto it.

The thing about it all _was_ that I wasn't being honest with Selena. I hadn't told her of my irritation at work, and it was annoying me endlessly that I'd zone out and end up fantasizing about Som. If I told her about that, she'd laugh and remind me that fantasizing was all right, and that she hadn't expected anything else and stuff, but it was annoying to me, because it wasn't like I didn't _love_ my wife. Selena was my world…Selena and Ash both. If something happened and Selena left, she'd _take_ Ash, and that idea terrified me.

I didn't want to be alone again.

Now that she was going to give me a son, it was _that_ much worse.

It was hard.

I rubbed more at my neck and down onto my shoulders as best I could to relieve the tension. The fact that my life was so stressful stated that I just needed to sit down and _talk_ to my wife. She would understand everything, and I hadn't done anything wrong. I had nothing to hide from her, but admitting to her that I wasn't happy with what we _had_…living _in_ the palace with servants who'd clean our house, a salary to die for on both our parts and a _great_ school for our daughter with what I _had_ as a family…

We asked for nothing and had everything…

It wasn't even like I really _minded_ Keith showing up, because he _was_ her twin…

I just needed to talk to her. We could figure this out…it couldn't be that hard. She could find me something to put my finger in and make a mess of that'd work around my job.

Why did she have to do it for me?

I lay back across the stone as I heard rain start falling around me on the leaves that were starting to turn colors.

We needed to leave Sanq. Ash's school would let out for a week and I could take vacation time…she could…we could go somewhere and get away from everything…

But she was about to have the baby. Too close for us to travel.

I opened my eyes and looked up at the rain-clouds above me.

Why was I so damn selfish?

- -

I yawned as I walked into my apartment with Ash and Faye a few tired steps behind, then moved upstairs. Relena was sitting on the couch with a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, moving to kiss her.

"Selena and Duo are arguing," she muttered in Cantonese, glancing toward the girls. "They're actually shouting."

I blinked at her, then moved to grab Ash's arm before she could start home. "Why don't you wait here, huh, baby?" I asked. "I want to talk to your parents, so you just go help Faye get snacks."

Ashley frowned at me a moment before nodding and turning to look at her cousin.

I pulled the door open…and could hear Duo shouting. I moved from the apartment quickly, hoping Ashley hadn't heard that and made sure the door clicked behind me before moving across the hallway to the apartment door.

"…just _one_ little _fucking_ thing!" Duo was shouting.

"One thing?" Selena retorted.

"Three things," I countered as I shoved the door open.

The pair focused on me instantly. They were standing in the middle of the living room, and I could tell by looking at him that Duo was controlling himself very hard. Both their chests were heaving and I realized that this was why Duo'd called and asked me to pick up his daughter.

"Number one," I noted, looking between them, "the girls are in my apartment. Number two, Selena is pregnant," that was to Duo. "And number three, you really need to calm down."

Duo straightened before starting to rub at his neck and shoulders, looking away.

"He wants to leave," Selena informed me…and started to cry.

I stared at her in disbelief a long moment before reminding myself that things were never what they seemed when dealing with Duo…

But he had tears, too.

I stared at him.

"That's _not_ what I said," he informed me…then turned and stormed from the apartment.

…what?

I looked back to Selena, but she was crying and walking away from me.

I turned to follow Duo, seeing him disappearing down the stairs as Wufei looked to me from his apartment door. His expression was very somber as he looked me over. I shook my head slightly, then sprinted up the walk to hop the railing of the stairs.

"Cool!" Dusty squeaked as Alex watched Duo storm wordlessly by them.

Trowa was blinking at me.

"What's going on?" Alex asked.

"I don't know," I returned.

"Can _I_ do that, uncle?" Dustin asked excitedly, running up to look up the stairs. "Can I jump like that?"

"No," I retorted, meeting his eyes in disbelief. "It's dangerous."

"You did it," he protested.

"Go walk Blackie before he dies," Trowa ordered…and I could hear the animal yipping and whining at the door.

Dustin instantly focused and moved into the room.

"Tio," Alex muttered, moving forward to look at me, then point after Duo. "What's going on?"

"They were fighting," I explained quietly. "Nira and Duo were fighting and she said something about him leaving…but he walked out before he explained it."

"Leaving?" Alex breathed.

"He wouldn't leave her," Trowa snapped. "Hurry up, Ro…he's getting away."

I nodded at him and darted down the hall.

"But, apa…" Alex started.

I darted out the doors as my friend started talking quietly, reassuring his daughter. I looked around a minute before seeing Duo's dark head heading into the little forest.

"Duo!" I shouted, sprinting to catch up to him. "Duo, wait a minute."

"Why?" he shouted, turning on me. "So you can demand why I'm leaving?"

"So I can demand what the fuck _happened_," I snapped back, stopping to stare at him.

He rubbed hard at his eyes and shook his head.

"What's going on?" I pressed, moving forward to him. "Come on, last time I jumped to conclusions we got into a fight and I ended up making a fool of myself…I know better, so you explain to me what's going on."

He turned and started walking again, shaking his head. "She didn't understand me."

"What did you say?" I pressed, moving to follow.

"I wanted to leave."

I stopped, thinking about that.

He turned to glare at me.

"I _know_," I snapped, moving again. "She didn't understand you and she probably took that comment the _entirely_ wrong way."

He nodded, moving forward again, sighing. I knew he was organizing his thoughts as we moved, but wished he'd do it a little more quickly. My pants were getting soaked by the underbrush and my shoes weren't meant for out-of doors.

"I…listen," he stopped and met my eyes. "I am loyal."

I tsked at that, moving from the underbrush as I noted the plaque for King Arenol. "We both know that was a publicity stunt for Relena," I retorted.

He frowned at me.

…wasn't it?

I stared at him.

"I'm…loyal," he repeated.

I nodded, accepting that without qualification.

"I want to leave."

"You realize that saying 'I' and 'leave' like that implies ending relationships and disappearing, right?"

"That's not what I mean."

"So I assume," I agreed, raising an eyebrow at him. "It's like when you and Selena were fighting. You saying you got into a fight meant to me that you two started arguing."

He frowned at that.

"You meant physical fight and assumed I got it," I reminded him. "I didn't get that, and I'm pretty sure I'm missing something with this."

"I want…to…go on a trip," he said slowly, thinking about it.

"Alone?"

"No! Now you sound like _her_!"

"You want to take your family on a vacation?" I asked, tilting my head at him.

He nodded.

"That's not what it seems like you're saying. Do you turn off when shit happens like this? You just keep saying the same thing because it means what you want to, but there are other interpretations."

He tsked at me in annoyance.

"Don't get all pissy with me," I snapped. "You have vacation time saved up. It's fine if you want to get away from the castle for a while…but you need to explain to your _wife_ that you don't want to leave her."

"I wouldn't leave her," he nearly snarled at me.

"I never thought you would," I retorted.

"But I'd cheat on her?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Hey, we've both realized that's my own guilt speaking."

He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Yes, I know Relena did it, too…that was then. We've grown up now, don't quibble."

That got him to grin slightly and shake his head again.

"She's too close to giving birth for you to leave," I reminded him. "If she went into labor right now it might end badly. Tomorrow's Halloween, just hang out for the party."

"I never meant _instantly_," he snapped at me, rubbing at his shoulders again.

"Duo, come on," I muttered in mild exasperation, moving around him to rub his shoulders—they were _very_ tense. "Don't think that badly of me. I'm fine with you going on vacation but I'm not sure what your time frame is."

"After the baby's born," he sighed.

"He'll need to stay for a month," I noted quietly. "So February?"

"March or April, really," he noted, relaxing and leaning his head forward. "She wouldn't let me finish."

"You know, opening lines like 'I want to leave' are a bit confusing, especially to hormone ridden pregnant ladies."

He made an amused noise at that.

Fuck he was tense.

I focused on his muscles, realizing that he hadn't let anyone touch him since Selena'd stopped being able to have sex. Actually, a bit before that. I'd always assumed it was him being bi and antsy that made him want left alone, but shit…

"Hey," he muttered, sitting up slightly and turning his head to meet my eyes. "Don't," he started to sit forward.

I grabbed his shoulders harder, knowing it'd make him settle—and as I assumed he gasped but didn't try to move away.

"What's the matter?" I demanded, pressing at his back muscles to see how far the tension went. "What's got you stressed?"

"Nothing," he snapped, elbowing away from me and moving his shoulders around to relieve the new stress as he stood a few paces away from the plaque. "God, don't touch me."

I put my hands on my hips to glower at him.

"Oh, start something," he snapped, moving forward to be in my face again. "Just _say_ something."

"Yeah, uh, no," I snapped, rolling my eyes and shoving him back. "Alex saw you upset. She's freaking out. You should go tell her what's up."

"Alex? The little sixteen year old girl?"

"Yeah, the little sixteen year old girl," I agreed. "I told her what I knew since you didn't even _say_ anything to the kids when you walked by."

"Sorry if my mood isn't child conducive," he gritted at me.

"Her mother _left_ her _father_ and _her_," I reminded him.

He stopped.

"You don't have to explain to me why you didn't say anything, don't pretend I don't get you," I shook my head at him. "Now that we know the root of the problem, I just mean for you to reassure your niece that you're not gonna pull another _vanishing_ act."

"Because I'm just _that_ unreliable," he snapped at me.

"I _know_ you're pissy," I informed him in exasperation. "You don't have to _explain_ it to me."

He settled back to glare at me, then grinned slightly.

"Your wife is crying thinking you want to split up with her, you might want to go comfort her before your daughter catches wind of the trouble."

He sighed, starting to rub at his shoulders as he looked toward the castle.

It'd be so easy for me to just rub his damned shoulders if he'd just let me touch him.

"Come on, or I'll bite you," I muttered, moving at him.

He shied off, blinking at me, then actually _thought_ about what I said. He met my eyes.

"Just _go_," I muttered with a sigh, reaching for him.

He started for the building.

- -

"Nira?" I muttered, moving into the bedroom slowly.

"What?" she demanded, her tone stressed.

"You okay?" I muttered, moving forward.

"Considering that my husband's leaving me?" she demanded.

"I didn't _say_ that," I snapped in irritation, flicking on the light to glare at her. "That's not even what I _meant_."

"What _did_ you mean then?" she demanded darkly, then thought about it. She sat up, wiping at her eyes as she studied me.

"I want to go on _vacation_," I snapped, moving to drop next to her.

"Vacation?" she demanded in disbelief.

"Yes, vacation," I agreed, glaring at her. "Sorry the words failed me."

"Where to?"

"I don't know yet…just away from the castle."

"I really annoy you that much?"

I turned to stare at her in disbelief.

"Don't look at me like that!" she snapped, her eyes filling with tears again.

"I want the _family_ to go on vacation," I retorted. "Family, being wife and children…Jesus, you're so damned…._whiny_."

…and I realized what a mistake that was the instant it was _out_ of my mouth.

She sat up to glare at me, then smacked my pillow into my chest.

"Oh, _that's_ harsh," I retorted, throwing the thing back on the bed. "It's not like we're fucking anyway. I'm getting our _daughter_."

…and before I could fuck myself over anymore, I left the bedroom and closed the door carefully behind me.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"It was just stupidity," Selena admitted to me tiredly. "He's an asshole, though."

"Did you forget that the day I met you, you came running into my conference room and _attacked_ him?"

Selena's eyes narrowed at me.

"Oh, stop. If I recall the story right, he'd been with you the night before and left you locked to a _bed_ when he came home."

Her grin flashed for a brief moment before she gave me a level look.

"He's always been an asshole," I explained. "He just pretends not to be sometimes."

She smacked me as I giggled, and I took a moment to resituate the crown on her head. She was dressed as the queen of hearts, so her crown was tilted. I was a porcelain doll with an elegant mask and a white kimono that was all but sheer.

Heero wouldn't have been happy with that.

I grinned slightly to myself as I ran a hand over my belly.

"Can we talk yet?" Duo snapped, moving up behind us.

Nira tsked, gave him a look, and walked away with a flick of her hair.

Duo turned to focus on me, spreading his hands as if he'd made some sort of point.

"You're in a fine mood," I noted.

"I think…I'm really about to be rude to you," he noted. His hesitation suggested to me that telling me he was about to be rude was really not what he'd intended to say.

"Don't be an ass," Selena snapped, moving back up to us. "Just because we're arguing doesn't mean you have to be a bastard to everyone else."

"You sure?" he retorted.

She opened her mouth.

"We aren't arguing, either," he cut her off, his eyes hard. "You freaked out about nothing and now you're just being a bitch."

She slapped him.

Duo didn't look at either of us as people around us exchanged looks, and I could see that his jaw had clenched.

"Selena," I started, moving forward some.

Duo raised his hand to stop me, meeting her eyes…and lunged at the woman.

Selena was falling back instantly, her face disbelieving…but it hadn't been a true attack. As soon as she realized he wasn't actually going to start hitting her—they really _did_ get into fights, I'd seen it happen—her expression turned even more pissed.

"We're at a _party_," Quatre spat at them disgustedly. "Grow the fuck up, both of you."

Duo focused on Quatre, then snorted as he looked to his wife again…and walked away.

"Don't even _start_ crying," Quatre snapped at the woman, looking no less disgusted. "You know he won't hit you when you're pregnant and you know you always fight when you slap him. What the _fuck_ is going on?"

I decided to hold my peace.

"Are you all right?" Hilde asked, moving up from the far side of Quatre. "What's going on, Nira?"

Selena started crying, turning into Hilde's offered hug.

Quatre gave Hilde a very annoyed look, and I realized that Trowa was following after Duo.

For his part, Duo's costume hadn't really been all that inventive. He was wearing a pair of military-issue green cargo pants with his nine or ten knives sticking out all over them and that damned belt he'd told us all had been cut up with a white wife-beater…and that was a really bad thing to call them with the current situation. Anyway, he had his steel-toed combat boots on and his dog-tags around his neck.

Duo turned on our vampire, which was Trowa, and the guy's cape swished out behind him…which made Duo smile and give Tro a look.

Quatre had dressed up like a drug-addicted music artist, which meant his clothes looked very sloppy and he had on his most expensive jewelry…and he'd bought some material that looked something like scars and had done things to his forearms…like make the scar Duo'd given him all those years ago more vivid by mimicking it…and added 'track' marks like he'd been shooting up heroin.

"Nira," Quarter persisted. "What are you two fighting about?"

"He told me he wanted to leave last night," she replied, wiping at her eyes as she pulled away from Hilde—who'd taken the magician's-assistant approach.

Quatre didn't even blink, watching her expectantly.

"I freaked out," she added, wiping at her eyes again and glancing at him. "Heero came and made us stop shouting at each other…and Duo took off."

"Leave how?" Quatre demanded.

Selena laughed slightly, sniffling somewhat. "Family vacation, but he didn't tell me that until well later."

Quatre blinked.

"He just said he wanted to leave and I thought he meant divorce," she added, wiping at her eyes again, looking at Quatre's shoes. "When he got back and told me he meant vacation, I thought he meant alone…and then he told me I was being whiny so I threw his pillow at him…and he got even more pissed and…"

"You're both being damn stupid," Quatre cut her off. "And I'm sure neither of you are to blame, either…so do me a favor and cut the shit."

She sobbed again, turning back to Hilde, realizing that Hilde didn't have a hug ready…so she turned and walked away.

"I can't believe this," Quatre muttered, running a hand through his hair and making it look even messier than it had been. "This is bullshit."

"And you're helping make it better," I noted.

He gave me a look, then looked around to find Duo…who was talking to the samurai who happened to be my husband.

Heero was a dork.

Ro gestured at someone standing next to him, and I blinked as I realized it was Ryu…dressed as a Japanese nobleman.

I grinned, turning to start for them.

"Oh, hey, baby," Heero muttered.

"Only Duo calls me that," I retorted, moving into his arm anyway.

"I just swore fealty to my new lord," Heero explained to me like I hadn't interrupted as he gestured with his head to the boy. "He seems really embarrassed for some reason."

Ryu smiled at me, and he did look really embarrassed.

"I tried to tell him that every nobleman needed a good samurai, and that I was the best…but he doesn't seem to believe me."

"I'm sure you are the best, dear," I noted.

Heero laughed, kissing my temple.

I looked back to Duo, who wasn't meeting my eyes.

"You really need to work on your approach, you know," I told him. "Saying you want to leave to your wife when she can tell you haven't been content for a while really doesn't jive well."

"It came out wrong," he snapped at me.

"No shit, Sherlock?" I rolled my eyes at him and looked to Heero.

"Is she okay?" Heero asked, looking across the room to where Selena was sitting alone.

"No one's feeling sorry for her," I returned, shaking my head slightly. "She's not getting any sympathy because we all heard that Duo's just a linguistic genius."

Duo tsked in disgust, gesturing at me in a way that meant he was keeping himself from saying a lot.

"I'm on your side, asshole," I informed him pointedly. "Don't go pissing _us_ all off or you'll really be in for hell. You can't exactly run with your babies here."

The knight shook his head, but it looked more like a twitch at the neck as he readjusted his shoulders.

"Those are real," Ryu breathed, reaching down and pulling a knife from one of Duo's pockets.

I stared at him in disbelief as Duo focused on him as well.

Ryu raised the one he was holding in disbelief, meeting Duo's eyes through the wicked little hook at the end.

"I've _used_ that one, too," Duo whispered, leaning down to be in the boy's face.

"You can't be serious," Ryu protested.

"Duo," Heero muttered, then thought better of whatever he was going to say. "I'm gonna go make sure she's all right, huh?"

Duo turned his head to look at his wife and rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He took the knife back and tucked it away.

Heero moved away from us and I watched as Duo pulled out his other knives to show the boy—it was kinda disturbing, because even after all these years, those knives moved in his hands like they had when he used them constantly.

- -

I readjusted my hat so it was tilted slightly over one eye more and grinned at my own reflection. I was a pimp with the over-the-top accessories. This meant I'd borrowed one of Hilde's fur jackets and had bought a hat with some nice jeans and one of my clubbing shirts…and then jewelry.

"You're so vain," Jacob muttered as he re-zipped his pants. "You know that, don't you, Fei?"

"And you're watching me while you piss," I retorted, moving away from the mirror to meet his eyes.

He grinned at me, washing his hands quickly before spraying me with the water.

"Jacob!" I protested, wiping at my face as he dried his hands off.

He laughed wickedly, then reached over and re-adjusted the hat on my head a bit before nodding.

He himself had dressed like a clubber, so I'd declared him my whore and thus he'd been following me around all night.

"I just got a wicked idea, huh?" he muttered, leaning in…and kissing me. "I'll be back."

I blinked after him as he disappeared, then followed into the ballroom again. Halloween was a court function of a sort. We didn't have anything official planned, just hanging out all night with drinks and in costumes. There were games going on all over and tables set up…and a dance floor.

Jacob had just kissed me.

I shook my head slightly as the song changed to a hard one, more like we'd hear in the clubs…and Trowa laughed, pulling Hilde after him to the dance floor. There'd been a few younger couples dancing but the song had made them all sit…which meant Tro was putting on a show.

Before they'd even settled from their run, Trowa started _waltzing_ his wife. She laughed delightedly as Heero suddenly joined him with Relena, and Quatre pulled some random female with him to join. A moment later, Duo'd joined in with Selena, and considering that she wasn't talking to him, I wondered if he'd just grabbed her and did it before it could be protested.

People were looking for me.

I sighed to myself, then grinned as I noted Lea standing not far from the dance floor with an almost breathless look as she watched. We'd all been schooled in waltzing when we were seventeen and we'd kept it up somewhat through living in Deniel, but we'd gotten back into it again when we'd regained the court, so we were all practiced enough, and as I pulled Lea with me to the floor, Duo and Trowa separated just enough that I could slide in and join.

People were starting to cheer.

The song was hard, and it was a good one that got even harder, which meant my niece was being somewhat hard-pressed to keep up with me as she laughed. She was actually dressed in a Victorian gown.

"Just go with it," I suggested as we spun faster. "Just trust me, huh?"

"I know," she muttered, looking around. "But, still…"

I grinned at that and moved up our tempo that half step that Trowa would be moving back as Alex was swept into the mix by Jacob.

So, the whole family.

This would be the talk of the people for weeks.

It didn't take long for other dancers to join our game, and as Lea giggled breathlessly I decided to give up the ghost. I let the girl go and she sat, still giggling as Selena moved silently past us and Duo rolled his eyes to me…and went the other way.

"I need a drink," I noted to the teen, turning toward the bar set-up as she gestured me away. She'd had her fun.

I semi followed Duo, who ended up heading toward the bar himself, stopping next to him with a grin.

He grinned back briefly, making a gesture to the bartender.

"You can dance?" Ryu asked, moving up to Duo's side with wide and earnest eyes.

I blinked at him in disbelief.

He showed up everywhere, didn't he?

"Yeah, I prefer club-style more, but I can do some of the fancy court ones."

"Sir!" Ryu noticed me, saluting before smiling embarrassedly at me and looking over my costume.

"I'm your pimp," I noted, extending a hand to Duo. "Fi'ty."

Duo shrugged at me and dug into his pocket…and handed me a fifty.

Why the _hell_ did he have a loose fifty?

Ryu stared at that in amazement before laughing as Duo turned on him.

"I'll tell your pimp," Duo warned, moving the boy back against the bar. "You fight and he'll beat you."

"Like a red-headed step-child," I agreed. Ryu laughed even more, shoving Duo off and trying not to blush as I grinned at him and tucked the money away. "Beat you so hard you can't sit for a week," I added.

Duo's laughter was a startled wicked thing that informed me very firmly that his thoughts were _not_ proper at all.

Ryu blushed hard, meeting my eyes.

I laughed myself, then noticed Jacob as he hooked a collar around his neck.

He hadn't had enough time to go back up to the rooms, so where had he been keeping that?

"That's a fun toy," Duo noted with sparkling eyes…as Jacob passed me the leash attached to it.

It was my turn to laugh that wicked laugh as Ryu stared at us in disbelief.

"Can I have something to drink?" Jacob muttered, moving to stand against me and look me in the eyes. "What do I have to do for something to drink?"

Duo was absolutely dying laughing from beyond Ryu.

"As long as you're a good boy, you can have anything you want…in public," I retorted, moving my leg to indicate he needed to _**not**_ be grinding me at a _court_ ball.

Jacob laughed happily and moved away from me to order.

- -

"You really need to not be following me right now," Selena informed Duo as she moved toward the entrance of Heero's apartment.

"Selena," Duo protested, "come on…I'm sorry."

"No, you've pissed me off," she retorted, stopping to glower at him. "Just sleep somewhere else tonight."

Duo tsked at her in irritation, then thought. "At least let me carry Ash home."

"She can sleep at Heero's," Selena retorted, then stormed up the stairs.

"Yo, I got room," I muttered to Duo as he stood staring after her. "Jacob went up with Wufei."

Duo turned to stare at me.

I gestured with my head toward the inside of my apartment. "Lea's showering, we have a few."

He grinned at that and rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious, you obviously can't go home tonight. Just crash here."

"I…maybe," he muttered, running a hand down his face. "I'm gonna go out to the church."

"I won't freak if you come back in," I reassured him. "I'm showering, too…and regardless of my jokes, I'm not gonna fuck you."

He grinned briefly at that, looked toward the apartment, then turned and started outside.

I shrugged to myself, wondering _why_ Jacob had gone home with Wufei. Well, I knew _**why**_ he'd gone home with Wufei, but I was trying to figure out more how it'd happened…and hoping they didn't start a relationship. Wufei was a jinx for relationships with males. Any and all of them crashed and burned for various reasons that I was fairly certain were mostly Wufei's fault—or the way Wufei chose, anyway. He hadn't actually started a lasting relationship with a female, so I was assuming he could work one of those.

"Hey, dad?" Lea asked, appearing in her door as she tried to unlace her corset.

"Yeah?" I asked, gesturing for her to turn and starting to unlace it myself—I'd put the damn thing on her.

"Who was that blond you were dancing with?"

"Wade?" I asked.

"No, her first name," she protested.

"Keely," I returned, tilting my head. "She's just one of my people."

"She was nice."

"Yeah, she is."

"You gonna see her again?" she asked, holding the corset to herself as she turned to meet my eyes.

I blinked at her.

"I mean…I can stay the night with Alex or Uncle Duo or something."

…I honestly felt like I was going to start blushing, smiling at my _daughter_ in disbelief.

She smiled back at me. "You should take her to dinner some time, get her some roses."

That…she…I…

Wait, what?

Marlea shut the door in my face.

"If you _ever_ come home with _roses_ I'm going to ground you for the rest of your natural born life!" I informed her, pounding on the door. "And I'll go hunt the boy down!"

She was giggling hard as the bathroom door in her room closed.

I laughed to myself, shaking my head, and headed back to my room to shower.

Wade _would_ understand my job completely, and she could even have access to some of the files…and know _how_ to keep my secrets…

But I was sorta jumping the gun, wasn't I? I mean…we'd always gotten along, but it wasn't like I even knew if she _would_ date me. Shit, she was twenty-two. I'd never really had a personal relationship with her… I tossed my shirt to the floor as I started unhooking my jewelry. Besides…there was something wrong with dating a girl my daughter had suggested…but…it was a thought.

I started wiping the fake-scar tissue off as I considered it even more.

Until I'd apologized because I had to leave, she probably _would_ have come home with me. We'd spent the whole night together after I'd forced her onto the floor with me.

And Lea was right…she _could_ sleep over at someone else's place.

I smirked at my own reflection a moment before turning to start the water and undo my belt.

That was, of course, entirely dependant on if the girl would ever give me the time of day again.

- -

I moved slowly through the cool night air with my hands in my pockets as I tried to contain my irritation with my wife.

She had this real ability to _piss_ me off…

I shook my head, noticing that the church door was cracked very slightly and hesitating.

I knew for a fact that my security teams would have found anyone sneaking into the grounds with no problems. Holidays were always twice as patrolled…so that meant it was someone who was allowed on the grounds.

I pushed the door open, looking the area over and trying to spot the intruder. When I saw the person sitting on a pew and staring at the cross above the altar, I moved in and shut the door.

"Who's there?"

It was Som.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked curiously. "This isn't exactly recruit territory."

"I'm sorry, sir," Som muttered, sounding a bit relieved. "Am I not supposed to be here?"

"That depends entirely on what Wufei's told you that you can do."

"I have tonight off…I don't have to check in until dawn...I heard some of the other guys talking about this and about you coming out here all the time…I just wanted to see what was in here."

"This is mine," I agreed, moving to sit next to him on the pew. "You can be in here, that's fine…but don't go telling anyone else."

"_Why_ are you out here?" he asked, frowning at me through the darkness.

I leaned in so we were face to face, studying his expression before grinning slightly.

He swallowed a bit, looking toward my lips before meeting my eyes again.

He didn't protest when I kissed him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"When did you get up?" Quatre muttered to Duo, blinking at the guy. "I fell asleep like…_as_ I hit the pillow, so I didn't hear you come in, even."

"A while ago," Duo muttered non-responsively, staring at the window that showed a terrific view of the forest.

"Hey, go talk to her," Quatre muttered, hitting him in the leg. "Come on, you can fix this now that she's had you in the dog-house two nights running."

"Huh? No," Duo shook his head, rubbing at his eyes. "No…I'll wait until later."

"Oh, come on, we can see you're dying," Quatre protested, shoving harder at his leg.

I yawned, then clapped a hand to my mouth as Duo started laughing and looked at me.

"That's not what I meant," I muttered, yawning even harder and rubbing at my face before smirking at him.

He smirked back and shook his head.

"What? I didn't start it," I protested at him, thinking over my night with Jacob.

It was really amazing how someone you'd never considered a possible bed-mate could suddenly set your world on fire.

"You sure finished it, though," Jacob noted, moving into the room with an evil laugh.

We all laughed at that, then focused on Quatre, who'd covered his mouth with his hand.

"I'm too pregnant for that laugh," Relena informed us as she moved from her bedroom in a robe. "Which means you need to not have it, which means you need to stop doing the stuff that makes it. It's too early for naughty boys."

We all grinned at her.

"How ya feeling, baby?" Duo asked, tilting his head slightly at her.

"I slept good," she returned, "if that's what you mean…why are you all in here? It's Sunday. We don't have to be up until noon."

"I've been up," Duo responded, looking away.

"I…woke up…" I hesitated, looking to Jacob, then shrugged and looked away.

Jacob sniggered.

Quatre was rubbing at the inside of Duo's knee and a bit up his thigh, his eyes considerate as we all looked at him. "What?" he asked, stopping to look us all over, then focus on Relena. "What did you say?"

"I asked why you were all up," she retorted, grinning at him. "You're in no man's land, aren't you?"

"My daughter put a bug in my ear," he explained, pressing his mouth to Duo's leg since he was mostly leaning against it—I should probably note at this point that Duo was sitting on the table beside Q with his back to me so he could _face_ the wall with windows. I was directly across from him and Jacob had moved to sit next to me.

"About what?" Duo asked, blinking at him.

"Uh…" Quatre pulled away from him to study his eyes, then shrugged. "She told me that I should take Wade on a date and she could stay over with you and Nira…"

"Oh!" I noted, starting to laugh. "There's a _reason_ you're poking at him to make up with Selena!"

He started laughing at that.

"You're horrible," Relena protested, moving over to stand in front of Duo with her hands on the back of the chair his feet were in as she looked at him.

He laughed guiltily and hopped off the table.

"Go make up with your wife," Relena ordered, kissing his cheek. "I'm sure she's done sleeping by herself."

"Yes, ma'am," Duo muttered, kissing her on the lips before starting for the door.

"Duo," she protested, wiping at her mouth and wrinkling her nose at him.

"Sorry," he muttered with an almost naughty grin…then disappeared into the hall.

"So, Jacob," Quatre muttered, looking to the guy. "Any particular reason you decided to rape my friend?"

Jacob laughed wickedly. "You can't rape the willing, Quatre. It's a technical impossibility."

I started sniggering.

"Hush about that, you lot," Relena reprimanded. "I'm going back to bed and Heero hasn't woken up yet…don't wake up the girls, they're in Faye's room."

"Yes, ma'am," we all responded instantly.

She gave us all a look, then disappeared back into her bedroom.

"So…Lea thinks I should try for Wade," Quatre noted, studying us. His tone was too quiet for anyone else to hear.

"Lea?" Jacob asked. "Your daughter?"

"Yeah, that was kinda my thought, but she had a point."

"Wade?" I asked blankly.

"The girl I was dancing with and with after?" he asked, meeting my eyes.

"She was like…a kid, though," I protested, blinking at him.

"And who was the one talking about fucking a recruit who's not even a year legal?" Jacob's tone was wry.

I grinned at that, giving him a look. "Fucking and dating are two different things entirely."

"And which are you two doing?" Quatre asked, raising an eyebrow at us.

"Fucking," I noted.

"Dating," he said at the same time.

We blinked at each other and looked back to Quatre.

"Dating," I corrected.

"Fucking," Jacob agreed.

Quatre started laughing, covering his face with his hands.

"I dunno, playing a little," Jacob admitted, poking at his breakfast with his fork. "I don't see anything more than our friendship in the future, huh?"

I nodded my agreement. "A little stress relief and entertainment…maybe not the most moral of things, but…"

Quatre nodded at that, then glanced toward the main of the building. "What did you two notice about Duo?"

"He looked haunted," Jacob tilted his head.

"He looked out of it," I agreed.

Quatre frowned slightly, nodding his agreement.

"He should be better here in a bit," Jacob noted, glancing at his watch. "He's making up with Selena, so he'll get back to his normal petulant self in no time."

I grinned at that as Quatre rolled his eyes.

- -

Out of it? I moved from the royal apartment and moved toward the door to Duo's place, hesitating.

No, Duo'd been more than out of it. After months of snapping at us not to touch him whenever it looked like we might be _thinking_ it, he hadn't even batted an eye when I was nearly molesting him.

I saw guilt.

I went to knock on his door and hesitated, pressing my palm flat against it as I heard the puppy whining and the low rumble of his voice. I could hear Selena crying, too…so maybe he was telling her?

I shook my head, reminding myself that I might just be jumping to conclusions, that he'd been around seven years without once showing any signs of…well, Wufei'd seen it in him. It didn't matter. It wasn't really my business unless I got more proof than a sick sensation in my stomach. My sense of _Duo_ hadn't changed.

I started back for the stairs.

He hadn't come back to my apartment.

The bug that my daughter had planted had been two headed…first at night with pointing out Wade…and then in the morning when I'd looked into the two empty rooms of my suite and noted my friend wasn't there. I'd moved to check Jacob's room before heading up and tapping on Lea's door.

She'd told me that he hadn't even come back to the apartment, let alone woke up early to leave it.

So where had he been? He hadn't actually _said_ he'd left early. All he'd said to me was that he'd woken up a while ago…

I bit my lip, stopping on the landing and looking back up the stairs toward the man's apartment.

The church, of course.

It wouldn't be the first time he'd stayed most of a night in a church. Granted, the last time he'd done it, he'd had faith…but…

I moved down the second set of stairs as Dustin and Tro moved from their apartment with Blackie on a leash and trying to play with it.

"Morning, Q," Trowa greeted me.

"Hey, morning," I returned, grinning back at him. The dork hadn't taken off his glued on vampire teeth yet. It meant his smile looked a little wicked.

He laughed, encouraging Dusty to get the dog moving.

"You cause me physical pain, you know that, right?"

Trowa laughed more.

I walked with them to my apartment door and ruffled Dustin's hair before turning into my rooms and looking around.

"Lea?"

No answer.

I moved across the place and glanced into her bedroom to see her sleeping soundly on her bed with Shadow draped across her neck. I grinned.

It _was_ Sunday. She had no reason to get up.

- -

"So what's up?" I muttered, yawning largely.

"I…dropped off some papers about a month ago," Tomé explained. "You said you'd try to get to them?"

"Oh!" I grinned at him, digging through the stack of stuff I'd had Duo do. "Sorry, I had a long night."

"The party was fun," he agreed, sitting somewhat hesitantly on the edge of his seat as I read down Duo's notes on the thing. "Had you and your friends practiced that waltz?"

"Huh?" I grinned at him and shook my head. "We just…can read each other's body language." I focused back on the reading.

"Majesty?" he asked uncertainly.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I had to give part of the work to Duo and I'm reading his notes."

The man's expression darkened instantly as he looked away and nodded.

Okay, that bit of pettiness made me feel better.

"You won this one," I noted, sitting back to look at him. "Maxwell agrees."

Tomé blinked at me.

Actually, Duo's note said that there wasn't anything in it to dance about, but there was nothing overtly wrong. In the end, it didn't matter if his initiative passed or got dropped. He said that whatever I felt like he would argue for me…and then on the page underneath he went into the details for me so I didn't have to read the ten page thing.

I pulled his notes off and signed the file on top.

Tomé was staring at me.

"In spite of what it seems," I noted, passing him the file, "Duo's not going to turn down everything you ever say."

"Just like that? We argue for an hour in council, and…"

"You said yourself that you tailored it to my arguments," I reminded him. "If I get my way, I'm not hard to deal with."

That made the man grin slightly.

"So in tomorrow's council we can bring it up again and see if it flies or not. I don't see my wife denying this, so you have a good chance of getting your first option."

That also made him smile slightly.

"All right," I pointed at the door, studying him. "I've got stuff to do."

He noted the pile of work to my right…that hadn't shrank slightly in the past month, even with me giving handfuls at a time to my knights to sort through for me.

He smiled again, rising to his feet to bow properly, then turned and left the room.

I shook my head, picking my pen back up.

The little things in life could make or break you…life lesson number one.

- -

"Hi," Som muttered, leaning up to kiss me as I shut the door to my office.

"What's…going on?" I demanded, moving away from the next kiss he tried to offer. "What are you doing?"

"I had some free time," he explained, settling to study my eyes. "What's wrong?"

I frowned at him and started to shake my head. "Last night…I'm sorry," I muttered. "I shouldn't have…"

His eyes instantly changed to hurt as he stared at me.

"I…Som…I'm sorry," I muttered, touching his face. "I didn't mean…"

The hurt changed to anger in a flash and he shoved me away hard, glaring at me. "You're all the fucking same!"

"What?" I asked blankly.

"You fucking bastards," he spat at me, shoving me away again as his eyes filled with tears.

"Hey," I protested, "come on…"

"Isn't that what you said last night?" he hissed at me.

"And it obviously worked," I retorted, dropping the consoling tone entirely.

The hurt returned and he looked away from me.

"What do you mean, we all? What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't _know_," he spat, starting to shove away again.

"I'm sure I do, I know a lot of shit," I retorted, keeping him pinned.

"A pretty piece of ass," he spat in my face. "A throw away toy, like a condom, use it once and dispose of it, huh? Dirty, unclean…"

"What?" I protested. "Som…last night got way out of hand."

"Yeah, you're always Mr. Reasonable," he agreed. "Mr. Seduction, Mr. Not-to-be-denied."

"Yeah, and I _really_ need to control myself," I snapped.

That made him blink.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I demanded. "I never actually meant for things to go that far."

"That's exactly my _point_," he spat, rubbing at his eyes. "You're all the same…tell me 'oh please oh please' and have your fun, and then tell me 'oh no, oh no'…"

"I'm sorry," I persisted, touching his cheek. "I honestly fucked up…I'm manipulative as hell. Once I put my mind to something there's no denying it. I'm not saying I'm in the right, but I am saying that this _can't_ happen again."

He smacked my hand away, looking away from me.

"I could say all the clichéd murmurings to console you, but I won't belittle your intelligence. I used you. Period. End of sentence. I can't take it back, I can't change it, and I can't do it anymore…and I'm sorry. That's all that's left for you and me."

"Until I tell your wife," he retorted, looking down.

"Just wait until she has the baby," I returned.

He met my eyes again, wiping the tears that were trying to pool away.

"I'm telling her what happened after she has the baby," I explained. "If she kicks me out, so be it. I'm not putting her through that stress until the baby is out of her system."

He took a deeper breath, looking away again.

"What can I do for you?" I asked, wiping at his eyes as I studied him. "It might be bad of me to ask, and don't take it the wrong way…but I have to be able to do something. You want money? More time off? I can't give you rank or anything, but I can do the monetary bit."

"What?" he asked me in disbelief.

"It's all I have left to offer," I muttered, looking away from him and moving away.

There was a knock on the door and I ground my teeth together as he moved away from the thing…and it shoved open.

Quatre stepped into the office to look between us, then study the boy a long moment before shaking his head at me…and walking away.

The door shut with a click.

"He knows!" Som hissed, darting like he'd leave.

I caught his wrist. "He knew this morning," I noted. "I was supposed to sleep in his place last night."

"But…he might tell your wife…" Som was trying to pry at my hand.

"I'll talk to him," I reassured him calmly. "I didn't realize it this morning but I've been chasing everyone away when they touch me and he was rubbing at my leg and I didn't even look at him."

He frowned slightly at me.

"It wasn't…that sounds really bad, but we're…we're like that with each other…it doesn't matter. He'll wait to talk to me before…that's what that was. That was him telling me I needed to go talk to him…Calm down."

He stopped, staring into my face with a sort of hurt uncertainty.

"Just go back to the recruit area," I suggested. "Pretend last night was just a juicy fantasy and move on, huh? It's not like I'll pretend you don't exist or anything. Go to the bathroom and clean yourself up, you can tell you were crying."

"Duo," he protested, his eyes worried. "I don't want to ruin your marriage! I can't…they might…I…" and he started muttering in Thai…or something.

I shook my head at him, pressing my finger to his lips. "I don't understand you."

"What?" he asked, blinking, startled from the ramble.

"I don't know that language," I explained.

He stared at me in disbelief…and tears spilled down his cheeks.

"Som," I muttered, wiping at his eyes again. "Hey…"

"I've gotta go," he returned, leaning up to kiss me again…then run from the room before I could protest.

I stepped after him, but focused on Quatre, who was down the hall at the entrance to the courtyard.

"Fine knight you make," Quatre noted sardonically.

"Fuck you," I retorted, moving to look down the hall Som had taken.

He was gone.

I'd swear the boy had the same training I did…

"Now," Quatre ordered me, pushing into the courtyard.

I sighed, moving to follow him as he pulled a remote from his pocket and directed it at the nearer camera for the thing.

"Why did you do that?" I demanded, knowing the screen in the monitoring room would read Quatre's stats and that his remote had blanked the camera for state-approved reasons and the only way to override it was for me to put in my password…or Heero to.

"Because you cheated on your wife," he returned.

I snatched the remote and blanked the second camera for the courtyard, narrowing my eyes at him.

He put the keychain back in his pocket as he studied my eyes.

"What?" I asked. "What do you want me to say?"

"You're remarkably calm," he returned.

"I agreed with Selena years ago that if I lost it like that I'd tell her."

"Have you told her?"

"Not until she has the baby," I retorted. "I will tell her."

"You _cheated_ on your wife," he repeated, staring at me.

"Yeah, I did," I agreed, crossing my arms. "Didn't mean to, didn't plan to, never thought I would…but there we go."

"And what would you do if I went and told her now?" he snapped.

"I'd kick your damned ass," I returned. "I put enough stress on her with my fucking linguistic prowess."

"And this is fine to you?" he demanded, his voice rising slightly. "You can look me in the eyes and admit that you fucked some little teen-age _boy_? Shit, you better stay away from the girls' friends!"

My jaw dropped.

How could he _even_…

He shoved me so I almost fell backwards, opening his mouth.

His phone started ringing.

He glared at me, then turned and stormed back into the building.

I pulled out my key-chain and used my remote to override the camera commands and turn them back on again, shaking my head in disgust as I moved into the hall.

Quatre was walking off toward the training wing.

I went to find Selena. I needed to tell her that something happened before someone slipped up.

Maybe I _should_ just tell her…but…

Fuck it. I'd figure it out when I go there.

- -

E/N: I say again, Niko kicks ass. I have this thing where I like to update consistently and it's kinda hard to do when the server isn't working, or whatever you want to call it. You can use the "export" feature and that will have the document copied and loaded in the document manager without altering the story. Then you just go into edit mode and you can paste your chapter into that and save it, then just add it as a new chapter. Whoever thought of this has my serious gratitude, lol. I was about to lose my mind...Oh, and story is interesting, ne? hehe.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

I popped my neck as I watched Alex and Marlea talking to a boy at the top of the stairs that led to their school.

Selena had gone into false labor.

It wasn't bad enough that Duo had _cheated_ on her, no, he had to _tell_ her when she was within a month of her due date.

Trowa was having the serious sort of conversation with Duo that had them locked into Duo's apartment, and Ash was playing with Faye and Dustin in mine. Wufei was still working, and Jacob had taken over for Trowa at work…Hilde and Mikhail were with Selena at the hospital, and Quatre was having a very serious talk with Som Ryu to make sure that what had gone on between he and Duo hadn't been forced in any way.

It ended with no one else available to pick of the teens from school.

I parked my car and slid out of it, moving up the stairs with my hands in my pockets as I tried to figure out what I'd say to them.

People fell quiet.

"Mm...Majesty!" the boy gasped at me, freezing in that way that suggested guilt.

"Tio!" Alex exclaimed, bouncing forward to hug me.

"Hey, girls," I greeted them, kissing Alex's forehead and hugging Lea. "You ready to go?"

"In a second," Alex returned, turning back to her friend.

He blinked at her in disbelief. "The king…is ready to go," he protested.

"No, it's fine," I reassured him, looking around as the various teens moved to get a better look at me. "I'm in no hurry."

"But…"

"We're waiting for Sammy," Marlea noted. "She borrowed my math book and forgot to bring it to class."

"Isn't Sammy that little…snot…" I realized that calling a fifteen or sixteen year old a bitch in public would be bad publicity, "…that keeps trying to get you in trouble?"

Lea giggled wickedly at that.

"Where's your guard?" Brauwen, the girls' bodyguard, demanded of me as he looked around.

"Back at the castle," I returned with a smirk. "I kinda forgot to grab'em."

His eyes went wide and he gestured hurriedly toward my SUV. "Come on…let's get in before someone shoots you."

"I decided to get the girls about two minutes ago," I retorted. "At the least, I have five more minutes before an assassin would be in position."

He frowned at that, not appreciating my implied humor.

Granted, he didn't know I _was_ an assassin.

I sniggered, appreciating my own joke as I looked back to the girls. "How do we make her hurry up so Tad doesn't hit menopause before she gets here?"

Brauwen gave me a very _level_ look as Lex laughed _her_ wicked laugh.

I winked at him.

"You're horrible," Lea muttered, grabbing my forearm as Alex moved to my left and grabbed that forearm.

"I'm also armed," I noted. "If I say let me go and get down."

"You're not really worried, are you?" Alex asked blankly.

"I'm also not stupid," I agreed. "Just because we're in peace-time doesn't mean I'm not a target. I'm not as valuable a hit as your aunt would be, but…"

They nodded at me.

"So who is this?" I added, indicating the boy they'd been talking to. "Is this the infamous Nick?"

They both laughed at that, Lex smacking me.

I grinned at her.

The boy nodded, his eyes very wide.

"My name is Heero," I noted, extending my hand as Lea let me go. "Nice to meet you, Nicholas."

"Um…Majesty…" he muttered, looking about to bow before realizing my hand was out and shaking it quickly as he smiled happily at me.

"Damn it, Nick," someone called in annoyance.

The boy's eyes went wide.

"Why do I have to park, and who is this…"

I turned to look at the man as he indicated my car parked at the curb, and he trailed off in amazement.

"Majesty!" he gasped, bowing low.

"Hello," I returned pleasantly. "I hope my car isn't in the way."

"Of course not!" he breathed.

"I was just talking with Nicholas," I added almost pointedly. "I didn't even think that he was waiting for his parents. My apologies."

"None needed, of course!"

"Of course," Lea half whispered.

Lex grinned.

"Your son seems very intelligent," I added to the boy with a wink since the man hadn't risen from his bow. "You must be very proud…do stand up, please. You're making a scene."

He straightened instantly, moving to pull Nicholas into a slight hug at his side. "You have no idea how proud I am…"

"Probably as proud as I am of my girls," I noted, hugging them both to my sides.

He smiled, still looking a little wild eyed.

"I was very impressed with your son's ability to act calm when someone unexpected arrived on the scene," I noted, smirking at the boy. "He didn't even stutter when I stopped here."

"He's…a very…" the man looked a little lost for the proper praise.

The girls had told us all about how he hated that his father wouldn't acknowledge his good traits…they weren't saying that, though. They weren't into the psychology behind it. Their friend thought his dad was an ass, and while I was apt to believe that at face value, I also knew the man just didn't know how to be a father.

"…very clever boy," the man summed up, smiling at me.

Nicholas was smiling slightly as he looked away.

"His self-confidence is definitely impressive," I noted.

The man beamed proudly at me, which the boy noticed, and the boy needed to have noticed…and I looked at the red-head Tad had focused on.

"Oh, here we go," I said happily, clapping my hands—which caused everyone watching to jump.

"Come _on_, Sammy!" Alex snapped at her. "My tio is waiting!"

"Uncle's ready to go," Lea agreed.

Sammy darted forward and offered the book over as she stared up at me with very wide eyes.

I nodded slightly at her.

…so my decision to get the girls wasn't quite thought out entirely…

"Majesty," she muttered, curtsying.

That was cute, had to admit it.

"Hello, Miss Samantha," I returned, nodding to her. "Please excuse us, but we need to be going. Her Majesty wants to help Alexia and Marlea with their homework."

"Over the top," Alex informed me in Spanish.

"Sou desu ka?" I muttered in return.

She grinned more and waved at Sammy before hopping down the stairs and waiting for me to hold the car door open so she and her cousin could slide in. I moved around the SUV as talking started to pick up again and climbed into my seat as Tad hopped in the passenger seat, studying me seriously.

"Don't even start," I ordered him, starting my car and waving at Nicholas and his father. "That was too much fun to get bitched at for."

"You should have been an actor," Lea noted happily as she buckled.

"Instead of a king?" I demanded, grinning at her as I put the car into gear. "I think not."

"Let me buckle you," Tad ordered, extending one hand toward me.

I snorted and pulled the buckle over my own shoulder, pressing it down as I looked to him curiously.

"What's going on?" Alex asked, waving to her friends as I started pulling away.

I sighed heavily. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, be serious," Alex protested.

"Alex," Tad reprimanded.

"He's my uncle before he's my king," she snapped.

I grinned at that, turning back toward the castle. "Your parents will tell you what you need to know. It's not my place…just…pretend you don't notice it happening."

Marlea snorted.

- -

"He wasn't coerced per se," Quatre muttered tiredly. "Valid seduction."

"You honestly think Duo would have admitted to it if it'd been rape?" I asked darkly. "It took us eight years to get it from him about Jun."

"And we don't _like_ Jun," Heero agreed.

"Us," Quatre retorted, giving me a look. "It was _Fei_ who got it out of him."

Fei shook his head, still chewing at his nail.

Wufei got to deal with the business end of the whole ordeal. If Ryu wanted to, they'd have to press charges against the dumb-ass. Since it was such a high level, Wufei himself would have to stand against Duo.

Duo moved tiredly into the room, not looking at any of us and we all watched him move to sit next to me.

"How is Selena?" he asked, looking up.

"You care?" Quatre demanded, avoiding eyes.

Duo ignored him.

"She's fine," I replied with a sigh. "They're making sure it's not going to turn into real labor."

"What did Som say?" he asked.

"Pretty hot night in the chapel, huh?" Quatre snapped.

We all flinched at that.

"Quatre," Duo half reprimanded, meeting his eyes, "I don't mean about that. I mean about charges."

"Of _course_ he doesn't want to charge you," Quatre snapped back. "It took me ten minutes to convince him I knew it'd even happened."

Duo rubbed at his face.

"You're such an asshole."

"And it only gets better from here," Duo noted, meeting his eyes. "Set yourself against me, Q. Let's see what I do."

"Don't," Heero ordered them both. "We aren't here to discuss this on a personal level."

"So where does that leave us?" Duo asked, gesturing around. "_What_ does that leave us?"

"Court marshal, public shaming, de-knighting, or me kicking your ass," Heero retorted evenly.

Duo receded.

"And then there's the question of divorce or separation, huh?" Heero added, thinking about it as he bit at his knuckle. "I seem to recall you preaching about _not_ cheating on your wife."

"You know how easy it is to slip," Duo retorted.

Heero flinched and refused to look at us for a moment.

He really _had_ walked into that one.

I sighed, shaking my head. "I don't understand," I noted.

"You don't _need_ to," Duo snapped, looking to me. "If you understood you could do it, too, and I'm not doing that to Hilde."

"But you could do it to Nira?" Quatre asked snidely.

Duo stared back at him with absolutely no emotion on his face until Quatre gave up and looked away.

"As of November first, two-hundred twelve, you are accused of military misconduct," Wufei muttered quietly. "Should the recruit, Som Kiet Ryu desire, formal charges will be pressed with a proper military trial, headed by your king. What do you say to that?"

There was a tap on the door before Duo could respond, and Quatre moved across the room instantly to open it.

"Sir."

We all heard Ryu's voice.

Duo closed his eyes, dropping his head back.

Quatre marched Ryu to stand beside him and Duo, looking us all over.

Ryu dropped his eyes, bowing slightly and pretending Duo wasn't sitting there.

"Som Kiet Ryu," Heero said formally. "It has come to my attention that my knight and officer, the head of the internal security force, Duo Maxwell, seduced you in the Heaven's Chapel in the early morning hours of November first, two-hundred twelve. Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir," Som returned, still not looking at us.

"Further," Heero continued on, studying the papers in front of him, "you have stated that the action was beyond your control and happened before you could completely gather what was going on. Is this correct?"

"It wasn't entirely sudden, sir," he returned.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen, sir," Ryu replied quietly.

"What is your birth date?"

"June twenty-seven, one-nine-four."

"One-nine-four?" Quatre demanded in disgust, glaring at Duo.

Ryu frowned at him, obviously hurt by this.

Duo didn't react.

"Ryu?" Wufei asked quietly.

"Yes, sir?"

"In the presence of your king and four knights, and the accused, will you state formally that Sir Duo Maxwell did not, in fact, rape you?"

Duo turned to focus on Wufei in complete disbelief.

Actually, I was shocked myself. The question was cold, coming from Wufei.

"Bear in mind that no harm will befall you," Heero muttered quietly. "If your person was violated, you will be protected."

Duo focused on Heero, and in his eyes I could see how badly these comments _hurt_ him.

"No," Ryu said in a slightly shaking voice. "Sir Maxwell did not rape me."

"Would you swear it to your queen?" Wufei demanded.

"Yes," Ryu returned, turning slightly tearful eyes to Wufei. "I would swear it to my queen…and to my own damn father…fuck, my _mother_."

"It's all right," I reassured him quietly. "Just formalities."

"Would you like to bring charges of misconduct against Sir Maxwell?" Heero asked, looking up from the file again to study the boy's face.

Duo was actually holding his breath.

"No," Ryu muttered, wiping quickly at his eyes. "I didn't _want_ to get him in trouble!"

"_Get_ him in trouble?" Jacob asked curiously.

Ryu turned stricken eyes onto him, obviously waiting.

"What do you mean, get?" Jacob pressed.

Ryu bit his lip.

"It's all right," Duo spoke up quietly, looking up to him finally, meeting his eyes. "You know you .didn't do anything wrong. You can't help what I'll do."

"But…" Ryu hesitated, looking us all over before swallowing hard and stepping back and shaking his head. "I…started it, I…"

"What do you mean?" Quatre snapped.

"I…" he hesitated, looking down to his hands.

"He came to see me this morning," Duo said quietly, looking away from the boy. "I told him that we couldn't keep doing things and it hurt him."

"That's why he was crying?" Quatre asked, startled.

"I'm going to _kick_ your ass!" Duo shouted, jumping to his feet and launching himself toward the blond.

I grabbed him around the waist before he could make good his threat as Ryu backed off with wide and worried eyes.

Quatre was blinking at Duo in disbelief.

"Not _now_, Duo," Heero snapped, moving around the table to place himself between the pair of them. "This is hardly the fucking time to lose your head."

Duo settled back into a seething sort of rage as he glared across the table at Quatre.

"What are you doing _now_?" Selena demanded tiredly as she moved into the room…and stopped.

Ryu backed away from Duo some, his eyes extremely wide.

"Are you all right?" Duo asked instantly, the anger _gone_. It just _vanished_. There were no signs that he'd been about to attack Quatre at all as he moved to assist his wife to a chair.

"I'm still pissed at you," she informed him.

"I know," he muttered, dropping down to his knees in front of her as she sat in his chair. "I know…are you okay?"

Ryu was watching this exchange without much of an expression as he wiped hard at his own eyes.

"I'm fine," she returned tiredly as Hilde moved into the room.

I moved around the pair of them to take Mikhail's car-seat from my wife, pulling her into the room and checking the hall over before closing the door. I carried the thing back toward the table as Hilde moved around and dropped into my seat.

"Lady Selena Maxwell," Wufei intoned, "your husband has been charged with military misconduct on the level of sexual intercourse with a recruit from Her Majesty Queen Relena Peacecraft-Yuy's army out of wedlock. As of this formal hearing, the recruit, Som Ryu, has stated that there was no forceful coercion involved, and that he does not intend to press the charge of misconduct against Sir Maxwell."

Selena was watching Wufei with tired eyes as Duo rested his head on her lap.

"Therefore, as a third party affected by this infidelity, as his wife, will _you_ press charges against Sir Maxwell?"

This was actually the moment of truth. Quatre's statements before the boy arrived had indicated that he wouldn't be pressing charges.

Relena moved from her bedroom, her eyes intent on Nira.

"No," Selena returned, running her fingers through Duo's hair. "Nor do I intend to pursue separation or divorce."

Duo actually sobbed, pressing his face into her legs.

"I'm so sorry," Ryu muttered to her, backing away with tears in his eyes. "I'm _so_ sorry…"

And he was gone.

"So concludes this fucked up shit we called internal court," Heero noted, tossing the file to the center of the table. "To protect the recruit and Misses Maxwell, I order you all to public silence on this matter."

"Yes, sir," I muttered, pulling Hilde into my arms as she hugged me and Relena rested her weight against her husband.

"Chang," Heero added, "find Ryu and give him my orders."

Wufei hesitated a moment, then nodded and followed the boy out the door.

"I want your word," Selena muttered to Duo.

He raised his eyes to hers instantly.

"I want your word that you weren't intending to leave me for him."

Duo stared at her in disbelief before shaking…and nodding…his head. "I wasn't…I…"

"You said you wanted to leave," she cut him off. "You told me you wanted to leave and I thought you meant to leave me. I want you to swear to me in front of everyone that you didn't _mean_ you wanted to separate from me."

"No!" he protested, that earnest…

…when he'd come back from the colonies.

I stared at him as I realized that this was the way he'd been when we'd all first gathered at Heero's all those years ago…ten years…eleven. Alex had been five. When he'd first come down from the colonies after being with Lanni, that sincerity had been the core of his being…as well as religious belief.

He wasn't pretending.

"…I meant vacation, Selena…I wanted to leave on vacation! I wanted to tell you because I needed to get away from here…from _Som_…and…and…you freaked out," he was looking to the floor as he thought about it. "You freaked out and I got scared and…"

"Scared of _what_?" she demanded, giving him an annoyed look.

"I don't want to lose you and have you still be alive," Duo replied, tears spilling down his cheeks as he stared up into the woman's eyes. "I don't want to lose Ashley…or…" he ran his hand over her belly.

"Then why did you fuck him?"

Duo looked down, not saying anything.

"I'm tired, husband," she noted. "Take me to bed."

Duo was up in an instant with her in his arms, moving toward the door.

"He's such an asshole," Quatre muttered, looking away.

"Go tell Lex and Lea that we're done," I suggested to him pointedly.

Quatre glared at me, then left the room.

"He really seems to care about Som," Relena noted quietly. "Is that a good thing, or is that a bad thing?"

"I don't know," Heero muttered, kissing her knuckles as he studied the door to his apartment.

"Come on," Hilde suggested, indicating the car-seat. "Let's go back down to the apartment and make sure Blackie hasn't peed all over everything."

"Later," I muttered to Relena and Heero.

"Yeah," Heero agreed.

"I pray to any god that'll listen that we never have to do this again," Jacob muttered, following us down the stairs. "It was hard enough hearing Duo tell us it happened, let alone hearing that poor boy so guilt ridden."

"Especially when his only crime was catching Duo's eyes," I agreed.

"And then seeing him when Nira came in. Did you think he'd press?"

"No," I returned, meeting his eyes. "I never once thought either of them would press any charges against him, but we'll have to keep an eye on Quatre. This is deeper in his psyche than he realizes."

"I just don't get how he did it at all," Hilde noted with a sigh as we left the royal apartments.

"I don't know," I agreed, shaking my head, "and I pray to god I _never_ know."

"Hm," Hilde muttered, thinking about it as Jacob hesitated at the door to his and Q's place. "I think I agree with that."

"Later, Jacob," I muttered, glancing back to him.

…it'd be really bad if the puppy had made a mess, but at least that was a mundane every-day sort of instance.

I never needed another day like this for the rest of my life.

- -

E/N: The only issue with wireless mice is that they don't always work when you'd prefer, and knowing the keyboard command stakes some patience…or something. Meh. I'm going to bed.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

"What are _you_ doing here?"

We all turned to look at Quatre, who was the last to move into my apartment, meaning the last to see that Som was sitting quietly in the corner beside Heero.

"Som's a good boy," Selena dismissed the demand. "My husband might be an ass, but Som is a good boy."

"I said I was sorry," I repeated for the millionth time.

"Yes, dear, I know," she returned, turning back to the stove.

I looked away from everyone.

"I should just go," Som muttered, starting to slide of his seat.

"Sit, stay," Heero's words were laconic, but I did see him holding the boy firmly to the chair. "We'll only have issues if you start hanging out with him by yourself."

Selena sniggered as Tro elbowed the king.

Som frowned at him.

Quatre moved across the room slowly, studying us all seriously. He stopped beside me and I stifled my urge to just turn and attack him.

I felt like _shit_. I felt like a _piece_ of shit. It'd been two days since my mistake, and while Selena was still pissed at me, she'd relented and let me sleep with her in the room again.

Not that I really slept anyway.

The others didn't even have the good grace to let Som melt away. I could tell he was trying, but they kept summoning him after his work day to hang out with us at one house or another.

They said mistakes happen and just pretending like it didn't happen wasn't going to change anything, but it did help things flow smoothly. They said that Som didn't need to be punished for my indiscretion and that they still liked him, even if he _was_ easy.

That'd been Heero's addition.

"So, tell me," Heero muttered, considering the boy. "I want your complete honesty here."

Som nodded, frowning slightly.

Heero's expression…

I started to straighten, opening my mouth to tell him to shut up as Quatre focused on me with that same skeptical look he got every time something about Som came up.

"Does he still taste like peaches?"

Poor Som blushed red, looking away from Heero with tears in his eyes.

Selena started laughing delightedly, leaning over…to kiss my throat…and bite me.

I would have shoved her off if I didn't think it'd piss her off, and she pulled away with a shrug as everyone else laughed…well, Som was still staring at Heero in disbelief. I pressed a hand to my throat, feeling slightly betrayed by them all.

I didn't _want_ my wife to be angry at me forever, I didn't even want her angry with me at all…but dismissing it to joke and act normal left me in a place that I didn't know.

I didn't know how I was supposed to react to this shit…

"Very _funny_, Heero," Quatre spat…and turned to walk away.

"Get back here," Heero ordered almost negligently. "You take yourself too seriously."

"I think he tastes like peaches," Selena noted to Som, turning back to the food.

"I'm gonna go," Som muttered, moving to slide off the stool again.

"No, just…"

"Just let him go," I snapped at Heero. "Shit, you getting' off on embarrassing him or something?"

"Yep."

I stared at Heero, who stared back at me.

"Fuck you," I spat, turning toward my bedroom.

"Duo, calm down," Selena protested, moving to grab my wrist. "Heero gets it, Trowa gets it…it's just you, Quatre, and Som who don't get it."

"Get _what_?" I snapped back at her.

"I told you before I wasn't going to leave you for sex out of wedlock, remember?"

I knew my cheeks were flushing.

"You said you'd tell me if you slipped and you did. No harm, no foul…not on any real level. Shit, I figured you'd at least make out with the kid before I had our son, I just wish you hadn't been fighting with me before it happened."

I looked away.

"So come on, relax," she muttered, grabbing my hand. "Heero's trying to get his point across to Som that he's not a bad person. We all know you're an asshole."

I had to grin slightly at that, giving her a look.

"It's okay," she muttered, touching my face with her hands. "Like Heero said, it'll be when he's trying to be alone with you that we'll start to raise eyebrows."

"You're horrible," I muttered, trying not to laugh at that.

"I know, and I married you, so deal with it."

I smiled at her, watching her go back to the food before looking back to Som.

He looked away from me.

"I think Selena deserves a lot more credit than we give her," Quatre noted darkly.

"And you deserve less than we give you, so it all evens out," Heero agreed.

"Come on, Som," Relena muttered, gesturing to the boy. "Let's go get the kids and their stupid dogs."

"Hey," I protested, "Fei _isn't_ stupid."

"I know I'm not," Wufei retorted.

Som started to smile, hesitated, then grinned abashedly to Wufei.

"I meant the dog," I informed the Chinese man. "You're an idiot."

"Hey!" Wufei protested, happily rising to the offense.

I grinned slightly at him, settling against the counter as Relena led Som away.

Something told me that I was in for a _damn_ long winter.

- -

"What do you mean? He has to have gotten to him by now!" Jun protested, slamming his hands down on the desk. "It's been _three_ months!"

"Amazingly enough," Sunan returned, "we're on the phone."

Jun snorted, studying the Asian man with narrowed eyes.

"I'm coming over, genius," Sunan informed him. "We can't argue properly over the vid. I'll be there in five seconds."

"But, Sunan," Jun protested.

"But nothing, Jun," Sunan retorted. He knew full-well that Jun's phone lines were tapped. He wouldn't be entirely shocked if the man's apartment was bugged…though at the same time, Winner seemed smarter than that. He'd have to have some pretty good reasons to pull that one off. "I'll come up…turn the brat's music on and come up so no one can hear us."

"Oh, don't start the music," Jun protested, groaning some.

The vid clicked off and music started pounding out some industrial beat.

"The thing I like best about Cowalles," Sunan added as he bounced into Jun's apartment a few moments later, "is that there are so many teenage boys that people don't even _notice_ the damn music."

Jun glared at him, rising from his seat.

"What I was saying, though," Sunan swept on as he closed the doors and moved to close the curtain, "is that there are these sticky little things called marriages. Knights tend to hold that kinda shit sacred, so no matter how you try to twist it, it's not gonna be easy to get someone in there to cause a scandal."

"I don't appreciate your humor," Jun retorted.

Sunan grinned at the man, dropping onto the couch. "You're the one being impatient. By this time he's joined the normal army so he'll have to work carefully. Just remember, Rome wasn't built in a day."

"But that's about as long as it took to crush it," Jun retorted, looking out the window tiredly. "What's his last report?"

"Som hasn't called," Sunan returned, rolling his eyes slightly. "He's not stupid enough to give them a trail to follow."

"He knows what he's supposed to be doing," Jun snapped back. "I'm paying you good money for this."

"You're the one who decided on scandal," Sunan retorted. "I still don't appreciate that."

"Your son is bi, it won't hurt him."

Sunan snorted in disgust. "I don't care, the sooner we get him out of there the better, but he has to do things in ways that work for him. I'll call him later to see what the hell is going on."

"Is calling him such a good idea?"

"I'll just say I'm a friend of his mother or something…that she's worried about him. Come on, I thought you were freaking out about no reports."

Jun sighed and shook his head.

"Hey, come on," Sunan suggested, "my boy can pull this shit off…he's had the same training as those damned pilots. Sooner than you'll know it, Maxwell will be laid out in his own blood and we can all dance on his grave."

- -

I sniggered as the vid beeped, moving across the room to hit the button.

"Sir Maxwell?"

"Yes?" I asked curiously as the group turned to look with interest.

"There's a Sunan Ryu on the line, looking for…"

"What?" Som demanded, moving across the room to stare at the woman.

"…looking for you, actually," she returned, frowning slightly.

"Wade?" Quatre asked, moving up behind.

"Hey, sir," she muttered with a smile.

Quatre looked to me in disbelief, then turned to look at everyone else.

"Put him through," I suggested, moving out of the line of the camera.

"Som?" a man demanded, then blinked at him.

"Dad?" Som returned. "What the hell?"

The man opened his mouth, then started to shake his head.

"I'm kinda visiting with friends right now," Som noted, glancing at me briefly.

I grinned and leaned forward so the camera picked me up.

The man stared at me.

"This is Sir Duo Maxwell," Som added in a slightly tight voice. "I'm in his apartment for supper."

The man blinked at his son, then smiled briefly at me in a way that actually made me nervous. "Sorry, I'll call you later…what's your room number?"

"We can transfer you to Wufei's apartment," I suggested, looking between them.

"No, just use the set down in the commons," Wufei suggested. "You'll be going by there around seven."

The man studied the screen in confusion. The vid was in the back corner of the living room.

"Call back around seven, dad," Som added quietly, looking away a moment. "I don't have a vid in my bedroom."

"You can borrow a cell," I suggested, pulling mine out.

"No, just let him talk to the man later so he doesn't feel pressed," Quatre suggested. "We can give him a phone pass so he can hang out when everyone else is gone. He hasn't talked to his father in three months, and you owe him at _least_ that."

I frowned at Quatre, then shrugged and nodded my agreement.

But why was Q suddenly being Mr. Nice? He usually went in the opposite direction when something like this came up with Som.

"All right," Som muttered, meeting my eyes briefly before moving forward and setting his hand on the button…and grumbled something that sounded almost _pissed_ in the language he'd been speaking to me in before.

The man's face changed to offended, and Som hit the button.

"Who was that?" Quatre added.

"My…dad," Som turned to look at him.

"Where did you say you were from?" the blond added, thinking.

"Colony L…"

"No, your earth residence."

"Cowalles," Som frowned at him.

Quatre nodded at that, then turned back to the pot-pie Hilde had stolen my kitchen to make.

Som frowned more at Quatre, glanced briefly at me…and then moved rather quickly away from my person.

So what was going on now?

- -

"What the _fuck_?" Sunan demanded harshly of me.

I looked away from the vid, shaking my head.

As a matter of course, the vid calls from the commons were tapped.

"What's going on?" he growled. "What's happening?"

"Nothing is," I returned. "I'm going through basic training."

"So that's why you're up in his personal apartment?"

"Dad," I started.

He shook his head, giving me a mildly disgusted look. "How much longer?"

"I don't know," I muttered, meeting his eyes again. "I couldn't tell you."

"And you refuse to report, why?"

"I don't get the opportunity," I snapped. "You heard them. This is a special favor."

He made a disgusted noise, looking away.

"I've gotta go," I muttered, swallowing. "I'll go into town next chance I get."

"Fine," he spat…and disconnected.

I hated that I wanted to cry _again_.

I disconnected from that call, thinking over what I'd been told. Most recruits were given very _specific_ orders. To call their _mother_ or to call their _father_. They'd be able to talk to one person for any amount of time, but the phrasing around my permission was very vague. Before I'd gone into the vid room I'd had to wait for them to call up to Duo…Duo'd issued me the pass. Duo'd said I could receive any call or make any call I needed to for the duration of two hours, and the man had noted I was favored.

He had no fucking idea.

I rubbed at my eyes as I dialed my mom's vid number.

"Som!" she exclaimed as she answered. Her smile was beaming. "How are you, baby? What's the matter?"

"I…" I hesitated, looking down and shaking my head. "Nothing."

The king had ordered me to silence.

"That's a lie if I ever saw one," she retorted. "How are you? How's earth?"

"It's getting really cold," I noted, raising my eyes to hers again. "They keep the colonies from getting below fifteen, but it's gotten down to ten."

She grinned. "They don't control the earth's temperatures, you know."

"I _know_," I retorted.

"How's your father?"

I looked away and shook my head.

"I told you," she noted dryly. "What did I tell you?"

"Dad's a manipulative asshole," I quoted back to her.

"Am I wrong?"

"No."

She made an amused noise. "How goes things, then?"

"I made a mistake," I noted, raising my eyes to hers. "I hurt some people."

"You're guilty?" she asked curiously.

I nodded, pressing at the center of my forehead. "I don't want to do this no more."

"Som," she said quietly, "if you quit now, you know what will happen."

"But I can't do it," I protested, shifting forward to look at her. "I can't…Mom…"

"You know what will happen," she persisted. "You can make your own decisions, but you have to remember to weigh the options."

I nodded, swallowing hard.

If I backed out now, it'd be a black mark against any future jobs. If I backed out now, Swathe would be apt to hire an assassin on _me_.

"Do you have friends?" she asked quietly.

I nodded.

"Do you have friends who care about you?"

I hated that I couldn't just _tell_ her what was going on. I hated that I couldn't just tell her that Duo _cared_ about me and what happened to me so I _couldn't_ kill him, let alone throw him into a public scandal.

Before I'd realized he didn't _speak_ Thai, I'd told him what was happening anyway…

"Can you make it?" she asked quietly, looking to something in front of her. "If you decide to give it up, can you take care of yourself?"

I nodded.

"You're your own man now, Som," she noted, looking to me. "Make your own decisions."

I nodded at that, rubbing at my eyes.

"I love you," she informed me. "Let me know how things work out. I won't expect a call from you."

"All right," I returned, swallowing again. "You're not disappointed?"

She smiled slightly at me. "We all have our limits. You didn't know yours before."

I nodded at that.

She disconnected.

I sat a long moment in the little stall, thinking about that and all the ramifications of actually going through with the plan.

The end result was me killing Maxwell. The scandal had been Tomé's idea, and Jun was deciding to blame it all on him since Tomé hated Duo.

To begin with I shouldn't have given them my real name.

I climbed out of the stall tiredly, moving toward the entrance of the room…and saw Quatre walking away.

My stomach soured.

"You're to return to barracks, Ryu," the man on duty ordered.

"Yes, sir," I returned, saluting him briefly as I looked after the blond…who was gone.

I headed for my rooms.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen  
**

I moved into Heero's apartment with Ryu on my heels, noticing that Duo was alone at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. "Morning."

"Morning," Duo returned, looking from me to Ryu and nodding slightly. "What's up?"

"Someone had a long night," I returned dryly in reference to Jacob. "And Ryu's got the day off."

"You know, my wife will start getting confused if you keep following me around," Duo noted.

"Then maybe you shouldn't fuck so good," Ryu snapped irritably.

Duo blinked at him, then frowned. "I'm sorry."

"You're also a broken record," I noted, moving to dig out two more bowls.

"I need to talk to you…alone," Ryu informed Duo.

"Sorry, kid," Duo returned, raising an eyebrow. "Something about me and you alone bothers my friends."

Ryu glared at him.

"What's _wrong_?" Duo persisted, sitting forward slightly. "You haven't been this pissy since you worked for me."

Ryu glanced at me and shook his head hard, dropping into the seat across from Duo.

"Som…"

Ryu gestured sharply at the man and Duo sat back, looking him over before meeting my eyes.

"He's been pissy all week," I noted. "Attitude issues since he talked to his parents."

"How do you know that?" he demanded, focusing on me.

"We gave you permission to call whoever you wanted, but the vid room is monitored," I explained, sitting next to him and passing him his implements. "We don't try to eavesdrop on the recruits or anything, but an eighteen year old kid having problems he won't admit to his superiors _will_ admit them to his mother."

"You aren't going to quit on us, are you?" Duo asked quietly, studying the boy.

Som's eyes filled with tears remarkably fast whenever Duo started using that tone.

"I…" Duo stopped, then shook his head and focused back on eating.

"You have a town pass, don't you?" I added curiously. "You're going into town?"

He smiled wanly at that.

"Where are you going to go?" Duo asked curiously. "I need to run into town to get the last of Lea's birthday presents."

"Rendezvous?" I teased.

"Or avoidance," Duo retorted.

I sniggered at that, pouring my cereal.

"I don't know town," Ryu returned quietly, looking down.

"There's a little strip mall kind of thing off Market street," he indicated a road in the air in front of him. "I'm going to be in there."

"Is that a request for me not to go in?" Ryu asked, grinning slightly.

Duo nodded slightly.

"Fine," he muttered, pouring his own bowl with a sigh. "You realize I could just tell you no if you started shit, don't you?"

Duo looked up to him, opening his mouth, then met my eyes and fell silent. He focused back on his bowl.

I gave Ryu a look, and went back to eating.

- -

"Your name?" Sunan demanded of me. "You _gave_ him your _real_ name?"

"That's not my point," I snapped back. "I can't do this."

"Do what? Your _job_?" he retorted. "What do you think? He's just gonna accept that you're done and move on? Are you serious?"

"It's more complicated than that," I snapped. "He's not as big an asshole as Jun thinks he is."

"Don't _say_ that name," he ordered. "And of course he is…"

"Dad, he…he…I can't press charges anymore."

"What?" he demanded almost breathlessly.

"I couldn't do it," I admitted, feeling small. "I…he was sitting there and the king was watching me…and…and I knew I was being paid to do it, but I couldn't…I couldn't bring myself to…"

"You had the _chance_?" he snapped. "You…you _fucked_ him?"

I nodded, though I knew he couldn't see it over the phone.

"Som…"

"I can't do this," I persisted. "He's not like Jun says he is…"

"It doesn't matter what you _think_," Sunan snarled. "He's a manipulative snake!"

"How do you _know_!?" I shot back.

"Because he _fucked_ me over!"

I froze.

"Before the queen took her throne," he snarled more. "He was chasing after someone and when he came to buy some vrit off of me…he's a fucking _snake_!"

"Vrit?" I asked, remembering him asking me if I'd ever used kaseen.

…and then realized that he'd come across my father.

I stared at the keypad.

"Every time he came around he fucked me over," Sunan added darkly. "Every single fucking time…"

"It's not his fault you're easy," I noted darkly.

"He pretends he cares but he doesn't give a damn," he almost whispered. "Nothing matters to him."

"I do," I noted pointedly. "I matter to him. His wife matters to him…his friends."

"I…"

"I can't do this," I persisted.

"You _will_ do it, or _he'll_ have someone do _you_. This isn't a game of tag where you're it and can stop _playing_. This is real shit, and you have yourself in over your head. If you back out on this he'll kill you, your mom, _and_ me."

I stopped.

"You think about that. You think about your little sister and what might happen to her, and you think about your mother and that little girl _Maxwell_ was so in love with ten years ago. You think it over long and hard and compare that to his fake affection."

_It's not fake. _

I resisted the urge to say it.

"I can't believe you didn't press charges against him…what even happened?"

"Nothing," I responded, starting to hang up.

"Som."

"Think small dark room," I snapped. "I shouldn't have to tell _you_ any more."

He fell silent.

"Don't call me again," I added. "Winner's all over me about this shit and he _knew_ the receptionist chick who called Maxwell's place."

"You're still around him? Who knows?"

"He told everyone the day after he fucked me," I snarled back. "He refuses to be alone with me anymore."

"Ungrateful bastard," Sunan growled. "Think about that."

My stomach twisted slightly. "I've got to go," I added, looking over the strip-mall Duo'd asked me not to go in to.

"You just think of your little sister," he noted. "You think of how quickly they'll end your mother's life if you even hint to _them_ that you'll defect."

I swallowed hard…and he hung up.

I set the phone on the receiver, seeing Duo's SUV pulling into the parking lot. It only took a minute for him to head into the book-store he'd parked near, and I wondered briefly if he'd really meant for me not to come here…

There was only one way to find out.

I checked for traffic, and moved across the street.

- -

I ran my hand along the spines of the books tiredly, wondering if Nira would go into labor before her due date…and how much running around would end up going on if she went into labor during Lea's birthday party.

"Were you followed?"

I jumped hard, my hand on a knife as I turned to stare up at Som in disbelief. He was leaning against a bookshelf about a foot away from me.

"Were you followed?" he persisted.

"Quatre wouldn't send his guys after me," I returned, swallowing slightly as I stared at him. "What are you doing here?" I added, straightening to look around. "I asked you not to do this."

"I told you I needed to talk to you," he retorted.

"And?" I snapped.

"My dad said you used him."

I stopped completely, staring at him. "What?"

"He said that you went to buy vrit off him and you used him."

Vrit?

I blinked at the kid, starting to shake my head.

"Did you recognize me?" he snapped.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I retorted, turning back to the books. "You need to get out of here."

"What's got you so worried?" he asked, moving up beside me to touch my face. "You know I wasn't the one who talked."

I moved away from him, frowning at him. "This isn't some fun little game we're playing, Som. I messed up and I'm not doing it again."

He rambled off at me in Thai as he studied my eyes.

"I told you I don't understand you," I noted.

He leaned forward…and kissed me.

I pulled away to stare at him in disbelief, noticing that he had tears in his eyes.

"I can't do this," I informed him, removing his hands from me. "I know I did it, and that I talked you into doing it, too…but if I want to save my marriage I have to keep _away_ from you alone."

"You're still attracted to me," he noted, rubbing at his eyes.

"No shit?" I asked pointedly. "That's entirely beside the point, you know. I'm sorry, but choosing between you and my family is simple. I have children, and I can't live without them. If I choose you, I lose everything, including what's left of the respect of my brethren…I'm _sorry_ I can't do more for you."

He rubbed hard at his eyes again.

"I'm _so_ sorry," I whispered, pulling him into a hug. "It's all I have left to give you…"

"I could have charged you," he half accused, raising those eyes to me again. "I could have told them you raped me."

"I would have fought that, because you didn't tell me _no_…and I was _expecting_ you to charge me. Don't play this game."

"What would you do if I went public?"

"Discredit you," I shrugged, letting him go. "The king himself swore us to secrecy about this stupid shit. You'd be up against all six of us, plus our women. Come on, Som, they aren't inviting you to our apartments to make you feel bad. They all genuinely _like_ you. We were all having fun before I got stupid…"

He wiped at his eyes, looking away from me.

"Please understand," I said quietly, "this _isn't_ your fault…I'm _not_ trying to punish you. I'm doing the best I can with what I've got left. I wanna do right by you, but I can't be _with_ you."

He nodded, wiping at his eyes again, then smiled at me. "I don't have to stop talking to you, though."

"No," I agreed. "As long as someone is around with us we can hang out all night."

He laughed a bit, starting to step away, "That could get kinky."

I laughed, swatting at him as he dodged, then smiled more at me and frowned slightly.

"Go on," I suggested, pointing at the front of the store. "Come over to the house tonight after Nira gets off…and next time I ask you not to go somewhere, don't _do_ it."

"You used my dad," he retorted. "You _fucked_ my dad."

"And you have _no_ idea how little that actually means to me," I tilted my head. "I feel bad, does that count? I didn't even recognize him on the vid."

He laughed wickedly at that, covering his mouth with one hand.

"I told you about those two years," I reminded him. "I told you how I was running around."

"You didn't tell me you were chasing anyone, though," he noted almost quizzically.

"Som," I said pointedly, "we're alone here."

"First a church, now a bookstore?" he retorted, moving toward me and sniggering before ducking my swipe. "Fine…fine. You owe me more than an apology, asshole, but we can talk about that back home."

"Hey," I protested lightly.

He smiled, then sighed and kissed the back of my hand…before turning and disappearing. I caught a flash of him once before he was just _gone_.

What the hell?

I ran a hand down my face, looking around a moment…then headed for the language section of the store.

He really needed to not know more languages than I did.

- -

"What are you doing?" Relena demanded of me in disbelief as she moved into my office.

"Tempting fate," I replied, clicking the stop button for the language CD I'd grabbed. "How can I help you, Majesty?"

"Make me not pregnant," she retorted, moving to drop in the chair across from me.

"I can _make_ you pregnant," I teased, "but not the other way around."

She laughed, pulling her feet up into the seat with her.

She really wasn't bothered.

Wait, her husband had cheated on her almost countless times before they'd gotten married.

"What do you need?"

"A warm bath and a cold beer," she retorted.

"Relena," I reprimanded.

She laughed at that, shifting back where she was. "Can we talk?"

"If it's about Som," I started, wondering if they'd found out he'd met up with me at the book store.

"No," she said quietly, "about _you_. Selena suddenly tearing off to the hospital with Hilde followed by you calmly telling us you fucked some poor boy senseless gives me reason to believe that there's more going on here than you let on."

"I was fighting with Selena and acted petty," I retorted.

"No, that's what Heero does. You're not petty like that."

I stared at her in disbelief.

"I knew why Heero was doing what he was doing, so I did it back to him. Maybe not the best resorts, but his level of emotional functionality wasn't the highest. You grew up fully emotional. You hit apathy hard, and it _had_ to submit…but you found it again. What's _wrong_, Duo? Why did you want to go on a vacation?"

"To get away from Som," I noted, raising an eyebrow at her.

"No," she returned. "If it were only about Som you'd have booted him out yourself. You wouldn't have waited two months before screwing him if you'd ever intended to do it at all. You snapped, and I want to know what in the _hell_ built up enough to _make_ you snap."

"My wife…"

"Don't _lie_ to me, Duo," she ordered darkly. "This isn't going to get covered up by some band-aid reason. You didn't screw Som because you were fighting with Nira. You didn't start fighting with Nira because you were trying to avoid Som. Som was a bit of light entertainment to you that was a nice juicy bit of frustration when he was in your office every day, and you started to act more like _yourself_ while he was there. This goes _beyond_ that."

"And that's all you need to know," I noted, raising an eyebrow at her. "What does it matter as long as I'm doing my job?"

"That's below you, sir knight," she growled.

"So was…"

"_Duo_," she snapped. "Don't shut me out."

I glowered at her.

"You're my friend," she informed me. "I walked my fat-ass down here so we could _talk_, not so you could be an asshole to me."

"But I _am_ an asshole," I snapped back.

"Ah…" she gasped, leaning forward with her hands moving to her belly.

I half-jumped to my feet, losing my aggravation instantly.

She looked up to me with narrowed eyes, then smiled slightly. "You're such an asshole you stop bitching at the _hint_ I might be stressed."

I tsked at her in disgust as I realized that had been no contraction at all, just her making a point.

"So you prove to me how big an asshole you are now," she ordered, extending her arms to me. "Help me up."

I sighed, moving around the desk to pull her to her feet.

"I don't want to walk back up those stairs," she informed me pointedly. "Take me to my office."

"You're a bitch," I noted, lifting her from the floor.

"And you love me for it," she agreed, kissing my chin. "March, or I _will_ have that stupid table be my champion."

I grinned at that, giving her a look.

In response, she sniffed just below my ear. "You smell good. What is that?"

"Some cologne Nira found for me," I returned with a sigh, moving out of the office. "You'll have to ask her."

"Why do you have it on?" she asked blankly.

"I wear it every day," I protested, meeting her eyes. "You seriously only just now noticed it? Shit, I guess it's not as good as you make it out to be."

She sniggered slightly, resting her head on my shoulder.

"I hope my wife sees this and gets pissed," I retorted.

"Mm, you wouldn't cheat on her with another _woman_, Duo. That's something we _all_ know."

…I didn't really have anything else to say to that.

- -

"Mom?"

"Hey, baby," my mother returned, startled. "Where are you at?"

"In town," I replied, sliding down the glass. "Mom?"

"What's the matter?" she asked. "What went wrong?"

"Everything," I returned tiredly, leaning forward against my legs. "Everything went wrong."

"Did he hurt you?" she asked in a tone of voice that meant she was angry at the idea.

"No," I returned, pressing my eyes into my knees. I swallowed. "He was really nice…still is…"

"What? You can't stand him?"

"I wish," I muttered, thinking about that damn smirk he gave me all the time. "That'd make this all easier."

"So what? What's gone wrong?"

"Everything," I replied, shifting slightly where I sat. "I didn't press charges on him like I should have," I noted.

"Oh, Som," she started.

"Can I just talk? Please?"

She hesitated a moment, and I figured she was nodding. "Yeah…go ahead, baby."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

"Well, he's certainly deflated," I noted, watching Ryu as he sat near Wufei and talked. The teen had been very self assured and present after his day off, but it'd disappeared as the week carried on. Now, it looked like he was forcing himself to _move_ most of the time.

"What?" Duo asked, looking back to me, then across the room at the pair. "You can't exactly claim this is a happy resolution," he noted.

"No, beyond that," I countered. "He's _making_ himself laugh."

"Q," Duo muttered seriously, setting the cups he was holding down without looking at me, "he blames himself for what happened. He thinks this is all his fault, and I can't get him to believe I'm not trying to punish him."

Several things chased through my mind at that point, including that he shouldn't be so worried about the boy's emotional state—but that wasn't even genuine. I was worried about the kid, and worried about what might be going on at his homes. His mother had seemed willing enough to accept him dropping out of the military, but his father…

Other than the fact that his father was listed as having dealings with Swathe…

I shook my head slightly. "I don't think he believes you're trying to punish him," I noted quietly, relenting slightly. "You need to stop apologizing to him."

It was the first, and probably the last, time those words would cross my lips.

I could tell that the others thought I was overreacting, but there was something about the fact that Duo _had_ cheated that incensed me.

_Not_ Duo. Anyone else in our group, but not _Duo_…

And what that really meant was that he could leave again. If he could cheat on Nira, he could disappear again…and this time he probably wouldn't come back.

I stared back at him as he stared at me, wondering how much of my thought process he could read in my eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, moving in to have me pinned against the counter.

I avoided his eyes, allowing the dominance.

"I'm serious," he protested, setting the filled cup he was holding next to me as he looked my face over. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," I muttered, picking the cup up to drink out of it.

"Quatre," he protested, moving so we were eye to eye. "Don't lie to me."

"Why not? You lied to me."

"What?" he protested. "When?"

Had he actually lied to me?

Not that I could remember.

I looked away again.

"You're actually starting to piss me off," he informed me in that same quiet tone. It was very reasonable and reassuring, like nothing could _**go**_ wrong.

The fucker.

I shoved at him, meeting his eyes.

"What?" he protested, catching my wrist and changing the motion of the hand holding the glass so the liquid inside it didn't actually spill onto my shirt. "Q, what's wrong?"

"I hate to interrupt, and all," Ryu muttered suddenly, making us both jump and focus on him, "but that tone of voice and the manhandling don't exactly strike me as innocent anymore."

Duo was away from me in a heartbeat.

I stared after him, then looked back to Ryu, trying not to stare at _him_.

How had we not heard him?"

"How do you _move_ like that?" Duo protested at the same time.

"I…move," Ryu noted in mild amusement. "Where are the cups?"

"Oh," Duo started to move toward where...he'd set the cup I was using. He blinked at me, then the cup, then looked around until he found the empty and moved to fill it.

"That tone of voice is hard to resist, you know," Ryu added, leaning against the counter behind me.

"It's a dominance thing," I noted, rolling my eyes as I shifted out of his personal space. "He, Heero, and Wufei have it so well practiced that you don't even realize they're using it until it's worked."

"Wufei doesn't do it so much anymore," Duo muttered, setting a cup beside Ryu and turning for a third. "And we don't _practice_ it. We're dominant. That's as far as that one goes."

I snorted.

"Something about Jun's goons covering my mouth and nose with a chloroform rag kinda interrupted me," Wufei noted sardonically. "Something about a gun at my head made me lose that dominance kick…you two can have it."

"What?" Ryu demanded almost breathlessly.

"Oh…shit," Wufei sounded startled, and looked it when I met his eyes.

"We don't talk about that," Duo noted, setting that glass by Wufei.

"No…what do you mean?" Ryu protested.

Wufei shrugged, taking a drink. "You're around enough that you're almost one of us…aside from not being alone with Duo, anyway…I suppose I can tell you if you agree to keep it to yourself."

"Are you sure?" Duo asked quietly.

Wufei thought a moment and shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He looked back to Ryu. "When Relena passed the throne to Zechs until she turned eighteen, we all broke and ran…we were seventeen…well, I was eighteen, so was Tro. Anyway, she lied and promised we'd come back in a year, and we went the anywhere-but-here route and ended up in Deniel. For her own safety, Relena wasn't supposed to leave Sanq, and we all kinda decided to hang out…mostly," we both directed dirty looks to Duo.

"Dude," Duo protested, frowning at all of us, "Tro went to Mexico."

"Yeah," Wufei rolled his eyes, looking back to Som. "Anyway, Duo took off with some hippie nun for the colonies, and Trowa kinda ran to Mexico. I actually wandered to China for a while, but there was nothing going on there, and the only thing I even have that's close to family left anymore is these assholes."

Ryu ducked his head in acknowledgment.

Everyone knew about L-5.

"Rounding that one out, I got a fake I.D. and started working at a bar at nineteen. It didn't take me long to get good at it…and I'm _very_ good at what I do."

"Wufei, you can't fuck him, I already have," Duo muttered, digging into the fridge.

Wufei sniggered evilly, and I gave the man a disgusted look.

"But he's my pimp, isn't he?" Ryu asked curiously.

"What?" I asked blankly.

All three of them were wide-eyed in a way that suggested this bit-fact had slipped their minds.

"Fuck," Wufei dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"I could rape you so _hard_," Ryu noted wickedly to Wufei.

"_**No**_!" Wufei protested, pulling out a bill and throwing it at Duo like it was unclean.

"What?" I demanded, looking between them.

Ryu started laughing a throaty laugh that didn't sound so innocent as he usually appeared.

I stared at him.

"Holy _shit_," Duo breathed, taking the money and shoving it into his pocket. "Ho-o-oly shit."

"What?" I asked narrowly, looking to the recruit. "Tell me, now."

"Uh…" he hesitated.

"That's an _order_, Ryu," I snapped at him like any one of his officers might.

"Don't tell him," Duo retorted.

Ryu was instantly torn.

Wufei snickered a bit. "_You_ have to promise not to freak out, Q. You do that and I'll tell you."

I narrowed my eyes at him

"Just leave it," Duo ordered through clenched teeth.

I gave Wufei another look and nodded. "I swear it."

"Halloween night, right?" Wufei asked. "What was my costume?"

"A…pimp," I noted, raising an eyebrow.

"Ryu's one of my dogs, huh?" he asked, flicking the boy's hair. "I dictate his _life_. I could tell him not to _shit_ and it would be a reasonable order for him to obey."

"I don't think that's _really_ reasonable," Ryu noted, making a face.

I nodded a bit.

"We were fucking around before Jacob got the leash," he noted, grinning a bit as I remembered just how _much_ fun Jacob'd said they'd had that night. "I told Duo it'd be fi'ty for Ryu and he gave me a fifty."

I looked between them in disbelief, then focused on Ryu with wide eyes.

The kid grinned at me, then rolled his eyes. "It really wasn't related."

"I don't think it's funny," I informed him.

"You don't have to," Ryu returned. "Without my consent, you can't press charges on either of them…and there's no way in _hell_ I'd give you the green light."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You don't have to like me," the boy noted, his humor changing to a kind of cold distance I'd seen in Duo many times. "You don't have to approve that your friends like me…fuck, you don't even have to _pretend_ to like me…but you have to be at _least_ civil to me, and I'll be civil to you. We can meet at that happy medium, can't we? We're both men."

I blinked at that since the last comment had been said _like_ a man would say it…shit, like Duo would have said it. Ryu had that dominance in him, but he submitted to the higher powers…no less that Trowa or I would.

There was no way in _hell_ that shit was my equal.

I moved in, backing him down as I stared into his face…until he _did_ look away, submitting to me.

"Do you feel better now?" Wufei asked skeptically.

"Yes, actually, I do," I returned, moving back to lean against the counter. "You were getting to the part where you flirted with a man that turned out to be the worst decision of your life."

"I'm more apt to argue that trying to win Miguel over took that cake."

"That was Duo's fault," I returned dismissively.

"Oh, please," Duo retorted, "I just wriggled into fissure that was already there and pulled it apart."

We all looked at him in disbelief.

He grinned sweetly, moving to lean against the counter himself. "So…Jun?"

"I used to flirt with money," Wufei noted to Ryu, making a slightly flirtatious face to prove his point…it was a cute one, anyway. "Jun Martin was the leader of Swathe and stationed in Deniel…and Swathe was a rather _large_ syndicate. That was _big_ money," he noted, making a gesture in front of his chest that I didn't entirely appreciate. "He comes on strong and presses hard, expecting everyone to submit…Jun, I mean."

Ryu nodded, thinking about that.

"I was still dominant myself, so I flirted with him a bit and then got bored with him because he wouldn't play right. He wasn't used to teases and I was a _huge_ tease."

"Was?" Duo asked me.

"What's with the past tense?" I agreed.

Wufei ignored that. "First time I met him, I thought he looked like fun," Wufei mused. "Granted, I was depressed because some guys from work were going to see extended family, and my extended family stopped at the twinkle in my eye, if you get what I mean…so I wasn't _entirely_ rational when he started trying to sweet-talk me."

"Hey, baby, you smell good?" Ryu offered in a very come-on fashion.

"Yeah," Wufei agreed sardonically. "You know the type?"

Ryu gave Duo a very level look. "Intimately."

Duo gave him an 'I don't know what you mean' look, pulling himself up slightly.

"Don't pretend he's even like that," Wufei made a dismissive gesture at the knight. "He's more like to grab you and bite you." As he said the grab part, he grabbed one of Som's arms lightly.

Ryu grinned at that slightly.

"I like it when he moves in slow," Wufei added, moving into the boy's personal space. His movements were almost measured, but there was a flow to it that made it look entirely natural. "When he meets your eyes before he does anything…he do that to you?"

"Wufei," Duo protested at him.

Wufei laughed wickedly since Ryu was definitely interested in his lips, moving away from the boy.

"How…I mean…" Ryu looked between them.

"We used to make out all the time," Wufei explained. "When Jun really started hassling me, Duo decided he was my boyfriend…it's fun to have Duo as a boyfriend in a packed club with hard liquor and hard music," he grinned at Som slightly. "Unfortunately, you'll never know that."

"I dunno, I was all but making out with him on Halloween," Duo mused.

"I love how you just pretend that cheating on your wife doesn't matter," I snapped at him.

"I love how you look disturbed because you know exactly what Wufei means," Duo noted, moving in at me like Wufei had just done to Ryu.

"Uh-uh," Wufei muttered, stepping around Ryu to push Duo back. "I'm not in the mood to have to fight you off."

I tsked at him.

"What?" Som asked blankly.

"Duo is incredibly violent," Wufei explained, making sure Duo moved away from me and taking his cup to drink from. "You saw it at the hearing," he noted. "He was about to jump the table to kill Quatre…which makes me wonder why Q has a death wish," he noted more to me than them as he turned to dig into a cupboard.

Duo…twitched. I'd seen him do it before, when he'd been controlling himself. His shoulders would flick back and he'd move his neck…it was actually akin to stretching, but I could tell he wasn't controlling it.

He was watching me.

"…so Jun struts his wanna-be-hot ass into the club and moves to my section, so I start playing, you know?" Wufei looked up from a container of mixed nuts he'd found long enough to see Ryu nod. "And I just kinda…solicited…a few tips from him…but evidently that excited him, because he never went away after that." Wufei thought about it a long moment, then shook his head. "He was a bit clingy, a bit needy, and way _too_ demanding for me so I commenced to dismissing him…and that exploded in my face." He shuddered slightly.

"Why do you say that?"

It almost seemed like more that curiosity.

"He got me passes to the Burn when Duo was in town when we were…oh…twenty-two?" he shook his head. "I think I was twenty-two…anyway…as soon as we get there…mm," he looked to the recruit again and offered him the canister. "I should probably note that all the bartenders of Deniel would _die_ to work in the Burn VIP area. You get paid by the hour, base-line minimum wage, but the people don't _pay_ for their drinks. You pay for it, so if you're good enough to work there, you can pay your alcohol tab off with tip money and have your hours and whatever other tip you managed. Only thing was that if you hit five-hundred dollars shy consistently enough, they thank you for your work and pick up on someone new."

"Give me," Duo muttered, taking the can.

"Anyway…as soon as we got there," Wufei took another drink as he thought, "the bouncer tells me Mr. Martin wants to see me," he rolled his eyes, but I could see something else in his expression. "So Duo and I concede and head upstairs…because there was nothing else we _could_ do at that point…and the asshole had a proposition for me."

Duo was tense again, stretching his neck muscles with his jaw clenched…and I remembered the night in question.

Wufei had been just shy of terrified.

"What did he want?" Ryu asked quietly, his eyes wide.

"He…wanted me to dance at a party for him."

"Dance?" Ryu asked blankly. "Like…the waltz shit?"

"No, like a stripper," Duo snapped, slamming the canister onto the counter. "Leave that one."

Ryu blinked at Duo in confusion a moment, then looked back to Wufei.

Wufei had that haunted look in his eyes as he studied the far couch. "Did you know that intimacy had a price tag?"

"Wufei," Duo started in that would-be-reassuring tone…and it took on a different note with his anger.

Wufei looked back to Ryu and shook his head. "When I explained that the dancer thing had been a practical joke on a straight friend, Jun started throwing numbers at me. When I refused and we went to leave, he pulled a gun on me."

I looked away, hearing the raw note of my friend's voice.

That was when he'd lost his dominance. Not when he'd almost been kidnapped. After that night with Jun…

"What happened?" Ryu asked in an almost too innocent tone…a tone of knowing but wanting verbal reassurance.

"He just wanted to fuck," Wufei noted with a sigh, sitting back on the stool again. "Maybe if I'd done it, none of the rest would have happened."

Duo swatted the canister with one hand, since it had been set on the counter, and turned away as the thing slammed into the wall beyond Ryu. The boy stared at him with wide eyes.

Yeah, kid, look at your idol, see how _human_ he is…

Duo had his hands on his hips.

Wufei was studying his own lap. "You think I'm right?"

"No!" Duo snapped, turning to grab his glass. "I think you're being stupid."

"If he'd have gotten over it then…"

"Then he would have just taken you over," Duo snarled, moving like he'd go to Fei and changing his mind. "Don't be stupid, don't even _think_ that your submitting to that bastard would have gotten us _anywhere_."

Wufei looked up, shaking his head at Duo.

"No," Duo snapped, gesturing at him a bit violently. "Don't give me that look or any of those tried and true lines of yours…it's not happening. It wouldn't have happened then, he'd have just made you…made you _his_," the word was spat in complete disgust.

"That's why he hates you," Ryu realized slowly, blinking at the man. "That's…because of Wufei?"

"No, he hates me because I repeatedly made a fool of him," Duo snapped, turning back to the cup he'd sat down and raising it to his mouth. "He hates me because I'll kill him."

Ryu looked between Wufei and I in amazement as neither of us responded to the notice.

"I certainly hope you don't expect us to _argue_," I muttered at him pointedly. "I wouldn't want to stand _against_ Duo any day."

"You do it all the time," Duo snapped, almost looking over his shoulder at me.

"Grow your braid again," I retorted, looking him over. "That look works best with the braid hanging down your back."

He snorted, turning to look at me.

"I guess…" Wufei muttered, thinking. "If I'd have just let him fuck me he would have done it all the time…or tried to. I refused him and he shoved a gun to my back that I thought he meant for Duo's head. He had _no_ idea who he was fucking with…and with that dumb shit talking to Tomé…scandal," he guffawed. "Like Duo'd do anything _uncouth_ with some pretty little girl…other than _spoil_ her."

The moment the words crossed Wufei's lips, Som's eyes widened just enough to indicate being startled.

He moved like we did.

Sally said Blue-boy'd had our training.

The kid said he was from Cowalles, and Jun lived _in_ Cowalles…Sunan Ryu was known to have dealings with Swathe back in the day…and Sunan lived in Cowalles.

I studied the boy seriously a long moment as I wondered if we had an assassin in our very _midst_.

"Doesn't matter anyway," Duo noted darkly. "I managed to make the scandal happen without some pretty little girl child."

"But Ryu didn't press," I noted, looking to him. "Ryu conceded seduction, denied punishment, and would probably love it if we let him just sit with you alone for an hour."

Ryu gave me a look.

"That's not a bad thing, kid," I noted, my mind clicking into familiar patterns.

When Wufei spoke again, it was in a musing tone that hinted the words weren't supposed to be out loud. "Jun had no idea who he was fucking with, even when he _did_ realize the Cheshire Cat was the Gundam pilot of nightmares."

Duo half laughed, turning to look at him.

"Needless to say, Jun is on our bad side…him and all his cronies," I noted, studying the boy's face. "He took a few shots at Wufei's head over the years and we tend to tear apart those who attempt one of our own. Even with this shit with Duo, I'd still tear you limb from limb if you tried to hurt him."

Duo sniffed slightly enough to show appreciative amusement.

Ryu blinked at me, then nodded.

"Get me those nuts," I suggested, indicating the canister on the floor with my head. "I'm sure Wufei would love the stress relief of re-telling the sordid tales of Jun Martin, and it might do you good to hear what we're working against fist-hand…I mean, you joined the army, and it's syndicate bastards like Jun we're protecting the country against." He passed me the can and I popped some nuts into my mouth, moving around the breakfast bar.

I was going to have to apologize to Sally…and I got the distinct impression I really needed to _make **sure**_ Duo wasn't left alone with the boy.

And anymore, that wasn't a moral complaint.

- -

E/N: Sweet, full on Quatre-dosage. Lmao...


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

"What do you think?" Quatre asked curiously.

"About what?" I returned tiredly.

Quatre made me tired…he really did.

"About Ryu," he returned.

I focused on him, narrowing my eyes a bit.

"You think he's gonna stay in?" he pressed.

"Seems like it," I thought over how he'd reacted when I'd asked and how he'd been acting with us in general. "I don't know…I think he'd have dropped out by now if he was going to."

Quatre nodded, thinking about that.

"You have that look, you know…that sneaky conniving look."

"Yeah, I'm conniving," he agreed negligently. "Think you can find it out before it comes to fruition?"

I studied his face a long moment. "What does it have to do with Som?"

"Som?" he asked sweetly. "Surprised you haven't started calling him baby yet."

"I know it'd make you upset," I explained almost negligently. "There's still time."

He snorted and almost smiled at me.

"I guess it's game start, huh?" I asked, grinning wickedly at him. "I'm already under the boy's skin, so that's where I'm gonna start looking. What's your time frame?"

"Today, tomorrow, tonight…a month," he smiled at me. "It's hard to tell with hormonal eighteen year olds."

"They aren't usually so unstable," I mused, thinking that over.

"Perimeters being that you don't outright _ask_ him," he noted, studying me. "That's not just some flippant rule, either. It is _imperative_ that he doesn't realize what's going on."

"Imperative?" I repeated, pretending to be impressed. "I see you've been studying that spelling book I gave you…it has definitions, right?"

"Hahaha," he retorted, shoving me away as he started by, "oh, and Duo? Don't go away alone with him."

I tsked at that in disgust.

He grinned at me…and walked off down the hall.

So he was getting over his issues if he was willing to play conniving-bastard with me…that was a start.

- -

"Give me that, huh, baby?"

I turned to look at Duo…and realized he was talking to the kid.

I raised my eyebrows at him as he blanched completely.

Wufei started laughing hard.

Som finished passing Duo the canister of nuts they'd been sharing, giving us all a wide-eyed look.

"That's beautiful, Duo," I noted. "Now he can really say he's one of us…don't eat all the cashews."

"Asshole," Quatre informed him.

"What?" Duo protested, his cheeks slightly flushed, though he was showing no other signs that he'd just called the kid an affection.

"I wasn't serious yesterday when I said that, you know," Quatre retorted.

"I didn't _mean_ to say it," Duo snapped back.

"Sweetheart, just stop talking," I suggested, moving to sit between he and Som since the kid was almost at the end of the couch and my husband was in the armchair. "I know you won't cheat on me again, but some of your friends aren't so sure."

"Would you leave him _then_?" Som asked curiously.

"You," I said pointedly, meeting his eyes, "should _not_ be asking that kind of question when I know you've chased him around to be alone with him."

He stared at me.

"I like how you just reacted to it, too," Wufei noted in high amusement. "Just kinda…passed him the can."

"My mom calls me that," Som explained, looking down. "She calls me baby more than my name…so I just…"

"You're a good kid," I reassured him, ruffling his hair…as a pain lanced through my abdomen. "Ouch…" I noted, leaning slightly forward.

Everything froze.

"Nira?" Duo asked, sitting forward on his seat.

"It'll pass," I informed him, moving slightly forward on the couch myself so he could take my hand and the pressure continued…and I felt something wet…and…then it seemed like I peed. "Duo…" I breathed.

"Damn," Wufei noted with dramatic understatement. "I guess I might…go get the car."

- -

Where Hilde's labor had taken hours, Selena's labor took almost moments.

Duo's normal panic mode had kicked in so the hospital was under the same sweep as it had been for Hilde, and he'd driven his wife to the hospital before anyone else was ready.

With Hilde, the doctors'd had time to give her the epidural, but Selena was just short of full labor as she was hauled _into_ the maternity ward.

After all the shit going on, hearing her pain had probably torn Duo apart.

"Yeah," Duo muttered to the baby boy in his arms, "you're just a perfect little thing, aren't you? Just like Ashley…just like your sister…"

I allowed my eyes to drift closed slightly as he continued talking to his little one. Selena was beyond _out_ on the bed, which meant Duo got to make the next set of important decisions, but it wasn't more than getting the kid's footprints.

"Oh, open your eyes…" Duo breathed. "Let me see what color…come on…oh, there you are…"

No one would ever doubt that he loved his children.

"I have to work," Som muttered tiredly. "I have to get up at dawn."

"Huh?" I asked, sitting up and looking around before blinking at him. He had the blood-shot tired thing going on.

"I don't have a way back to the palace," he explained, blinking at me. "Heero made me come and Wufei left before I could say anything."

"Day off," I dismissed it, settling back in my seat.

Duo sniggered. "Take him home, Tro. I know how to take care of babies."

I laughed at that, blinking at my friend a moment before yawning hard. "I don't think I could _drive_ home."

"I can drive," Som suggested.

"You just want to get away because he's being all fatherly," I retorted.

Duo tsked.

I sniggered slightly, looking over to the boy…who wasn't looking at me.

"Hey, that was a joke," I informed him.

"Can we go home, sir?" he asked, meeting my eyes again.

I sighed and rose to my feet, resting a hand on Duo's shoulder. "Heero just wanted to be sure there were two Asians," I teased the recruit as I grabbed my jacket. "Had to keep the count right."

Som grinned at me, rolling his eyes as he pulled on his own jacket.

"Be careful," Duo suggested, looking up to us as we headed out the door. "Come back if you want," he added to me.

"I think I have baby duty," I disagreed, kicking Som lightly on the ass. "Get moving, Ryu. If you crash my rig, I'll crash you."

- -

"So I'll take the first month and a half," I mused, looking at the calendar, "and you can take the second."

"What?" Duo asked, looking up to me from where he was holding our daughter.

"What, what?" I repeated, blinking at him.

"You want me to take time off?" he asked blankly.

I stared at him in disbelief. "In spite of old world beliefs, a woman's place is not to be the only one with the child."

He tsked at that. "No…that's not what I mean."

"What, then?" I asked, irritated with him more.

He groaned and rose to his feet…walking away from me.

"Duo!" I snapped.

"Shut up, you'll wake her up," he snapped back, looking back to me from where he was standing in Ashley's door.

I tsked at him in annoyance, debating if I felt up to fighting with him.

Not yet…I was still tired.

He disappeared into the bedroom and came back out without our daughter, closing the door to her room. "You want me to take time _off_?"

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I'm going insane enough as it is, and that's _with_ me working," he added irritably, dropping next to me on the couch. "Don't make me _not_ work."

I stared at him.

He gave me a disgusted look, rising to his feet and pacing toward the window—he had that same aggravation he'd had the day he'd asked if I was mad at him.

"I'll take care of him after that," I reassured him. "But I want to work off the baby weight."

"Selena…" he snapped my name, then hesitated, moving forward.

"Duo!"

His hand stopped just shy of slamming into the window…his shoulders tensed and he shifted his neck around slightly, curling his nails against the glass as he looked down.

"What's the _matter_?" I demanded, rising to my feet and moving toward him. Dean was laying in his bassinette by the chair, sleeping soundly. "There's more going on here…"

"What did you think I was trying to _tell_ you?" he nearly snarled under his breath.

I stopped, staring at him. He usually uncoiled somewhat when I approached him. He hadn't shifted in the slightest.

"What?" I asked uncertainly.

"Oh, that's right," he noted, turning on me with hard eyes. "You freaked out and thought I meant to _leave_ you."

I stared at him.

He shook his head in disgust, turning away from me and stopping by the bassinette.

He had been about to walk out before he'd seen the baby.

I stared at him.

He pressed his hand to his mouth a moment, then turned on me. "I'm going out of my mind, Selena," he said seriously, moving toward me again. "I'm…I can't sleep at night, I don't _want_ to eat…I get the paper part of my job done by noon every damn day and follow Heero around like a fucking _puppy_ for no reason at all."

I settled where I was standing, looking down.

"I tell everyone to do what they already know to do and I sit pretty in my office signing official documents that mean shit…but they _have_ to have my signature to do anything at all…I can't sit here and _do_ this job, Selena. I can't _stand_ watching the world go by, and that's so fucking _selfish_…"

I focused on his face sharply as I understood exactly what his problem had been…almost for years now…or had it been years?

When Duo'd been Michael Ocean, he'd been chasing down my brother with a holy vengeance, but I'd interceded and he'd come up short when it came to the moment of doing. He'd taken back Deniel to save Wufei, and then they'd fought tooth and nail to regain _Newport_. He'd been alive then, full of life and constantly thinking about their next move, the next big thing to tackle…they'd swept across Sanq and destroyed the syndicate powers. Even before that, he'd been fighting hard against the different military factors…he'd even given up everything he had to go help a nun.

For the last eight years or more, he'd been holding a position of power that kept him penned down and didn't really _do_ anything.

"…I can't stand how…selfish it is," he admitted, looking away from me, moving toward me. "I can't stand that I want more when I _have_ everything…a great wife, the perfect children…better friends than _any_ man alive could wish for…my daughter's in school and thriving…we make more money than I thought we ever would…people _listen_ to me when I say something…and I'm bored. I'm stagnant…I'm not moving forward…there's no where left to go."

"Duo," I started.

"_This_ has been my problem," he cut me off, turning back to me. "This has been the issue I couldn't get over…this has been what has me stressed. I thought if we could go away for a while…go somewhere new and different," he moved in to grab my hands. "I thought if we did that, if we left here a little while, that it'd help. That I could get back my perspective…and then you misunderstood me, and I didn't know how to say any of it…"

"Linguistic genius," I noted, studying his eyes as I leaned against him.

"But it's not like we can actually _go_ anywhere until April anyway," he gestured toward Dean. "I don't want to put him in harm's way…and you were so _pissed_ at me…"

"I'm sorry," I muttered, touching his face as I studied his eyes. "I'm…sorry."

He looked away a long moment, then shook his head. "I never meant anything to come of Som. I never thought I would…"

"You told me," I reminded him. "It happened and you told me. That's all I ask for."

He looked away again.

"That night…you were so distant from me that I couldn't look at you without being scared you _did_ want to leave…for real. You wanted to bring Ash back to the apartment, but I wanted to go cry…I was being a petulant child."

"But…I _did_ it, Nira," he whispered, tears filling his eyes again, looking to me. "Quatre told me to just sleep at his place, and I decided to hit the church first to calm down…and…"

"Why was he even _out_ there anyway?" I demanded dryly, looking away. "What business did he have in _your_ place?"

"He was just curious…"

"I'm warning you now that while I don't see that boy as a threat, there _is_ a line where your insistence and arguments will be too much," I noted, studying his face. "Lust is one thing, but emotional attachment is something else altogether."

He stared at me.

"Just keep it in mind with your little friend," I snapped, turning away from him and moving toward the window. "I don't mean anything…I like Som, really…but why was he at the _hospital_?"

I couldn't help but be jealous of the boy. It wasn't anything too severe, he _was_ a good kid…but he'd been the only person who'd ever taken any of Duo's attention off of me. I'd always figured that Duo would stray at some point, but I thought it would be some one night stand that meant absolutely nothing to him, and this went beyond that limit.

"I don't know," Duo said evenly. "I didn't tell him to come, I didn't tell the others to bring him. He said that Heero told him to come, so take it up with _him_."

I turned to stare at his receding back in disbelief as he stormed from the apartment.

It only took him a few moments to be out the back of the palace, and he started for the church before stopping and staring in the direction…before turning and heading into the woods.

I shook my head, wishing I were feeling stronger so I could slap him and get the fighting part over with…but there was no way I could stand against him when I was taking pills to dull the pain.

We'd both just have to deal with it.

- -

"You have no idea how annoying it is," Som muttered to me tiredly as we moved around the castle grounds. "I can find some really _great_ guys, but for some reason they all seem to be married."

"All the good ones are taken," I noted. "Wufei tells me that all the time."

He grinned briefly at me and shook his head. "There's a very serious difference."

"Oh?"

"You're straight," he shrugged. "You can tell."

"That's an interesting thing…didn't realize bi guys had gaydar."

He sniggered, elbowing me briefly.

This was an interesting development.

Sunday afternoon, Duo had been giving Som a very considerate look, and it hadn't been the type to make us worry. He'd obviously been considering something and it'd made Som somewhat paranoid. Quatre was running around doing his little "sneaky" thing where he asked everyone what they thought of a matter before agreeing haphazardly and leaving the matter lie, and those two things said something more was going on.

Monday, Selena'd had Dean, so nothing had really come of it, but Duo'd disappeared into the forest last night after having a serious conversation with Nira, and I got the definite impression he'd be spending even _less_ time with the recruit.

At any rate, I'd been collecting Som after his work day ended and walking around with him, because he didn't have anyone he could talk to man to man now that Duo was out of his picture. We all knew Wufei was a little too interested in the boy's person to be of any help what-so-ever, so I'd decided with Heero's approval to take the kid under my wing. It had been obvious to us from his tone of voice when he'd hung up with his father that he didn't get along with the man…and if anything Duo'd said was remotely valid, he had a very serious father complex…meaning his hadn't been there when he'd needed one and he was looking for one.

"No…it's like…when I talk to you I can tell. The first day I got here, Wufei kept giving me _looks_…so I've been teasing him, because he's funny…and Duo initially gave me _a_ look…and I dunno. You listen to what I say and care about it, but it's not the same as when Duo would listen and care…"

If the kid hadn't been _ten_ when Duo initially got back and was single…

"…you seem more like you'd _help_ instead of suggesting courses of action…which is help, but…"

"I think I understand," I noted.

Yes, I was a father. My daughter was just _barely_ younger than him.

No matter what way you looked at it, it was fucked up that the boy was only _eighteen_.

"I can talk to you," he noted, slowing slightly. "I don't worry about something I say offending you…because the stuff that I think would bother you the most…you make jokes."

I grinned slightly at that and nodded.

"Every relationship I've had with a guy…they're always older," he confided, looking down again. "It's so _stupid_, because I _know_ they're married, but then they start talking in that tone…and I can't refuse."

"I suppose this is the part where I remind you that Duo is a manipulative bastard."

He stopped, raising his eyes to mine—it was such an innocent and earnest look that I grinned in an encouraging way to get him _talking_.

"My mom says that about my dad all the time," he muttered, looking down.

"I see," I noted. "Kinda like him calling you baby and you realize _after_ what he'd done."

He laughed a little at that, giving me a look.

"We all talk," I explained. "We don't really keep secrets from each other. Wufei thought it was hilarious that Duo was attracted to you, but none of us ever thought he'd _cheat_ on Selena."

He almost stopped, looking away.

"If you want to take the blame for that, go right ahead," I noted, raising an eyebrow at him. "Just keep in mind that Duo made first claim and his right precedes yours."

That got me a look that quickly turned amused.

"I don't care that you're attracted to him, I don't care that you might have even _offered_ yourself to him. He's responsible for his decisions, and _he_ seduced you. You've said enough for us to know that you were doing everything short of refusing him and he still talked around you. We _all_ know how that goes."

He nodded, looking away again.

"I know it might seem odd to you…all of us just keeping you around…but you should probably realize by now that Duo's tried to seduce all of us…all but Wufei. Wufei would give in without a moment's hesitation, so there's no challenge there…my jackass friend _likes_ challenges."

"I don't think I was much of one," he muttered almost petulantly. "You know, it really sucks. If I'm as big an asshole as that when I get older I'm gonna kill myself."

And enter the teen.

"I mean…I _trust_ them and open up, and let them in my guard…and they all turn around when they've _had_ their fun and tell me that they're married, that they shouldn't have done it…that I need to just…go away."

That actually caught my attention.

"But Duo hasn't said that yet," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and moving to walk even with me. "I think his wife will make him, though. I think she's fine that we fucked but it bothers her that he cares about me. He said he wanted to do right by me but he couldn't offer me more than an apology, and as soon as she realizes _that_ she's gonna get pissed…he was saying he wasn't going to leave her for me."

"When?" I asked, thinking over the past several months.

Som stopped, looking up to me with wide eyes.

"I thought so," I noted, rolling my own. "How the fuck did you get alone with him?"

"I…did what he asked me not to," he explained.

"Went out to the church?"

"No," he said quietly. "He hasn't said anything about the church. He just keeps telling me he's not going to be alone with me."

"What did he tell you not to do?"

"I had a day pass?"

I turned to study his face, then grinned tightly at him. "I'm not Quatre to fly off the handle, you know. I'm not Wufei to tease about secret meetings…or even Duo, who really means to keep you at arm's length. You can _tell_ me anything you need to tell me. Heero and I both think this is fucked up and want to help you."

"Heero?" he asked quietly. "The king cares?"

"You're not a normal," I explained. "You're smart and talented, and if what I've seen of your father tells me anything, you could use an adult male who's not gonna fuck you to hear you out. What do you mean, you did what he asked you not to?"

"I wanted to ask him about something," he muttered evasively. "But I didn't want anyone around to hear it…and he said no, and after we'd talked for a while he told me that he was going to a strip mall and asked me not to go there. I don't know the town, so I just kinda wandered and ended up there when he was."

"All right," I noted. "I can understand that. What made you decide to talk to him? What was so important you couldn't ask it in front of Wufei?"

He gestured vaguely, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter, I got my answer. Nothing happened," he added almost too quickly. "He was annoyed that I'd gone there anyway."

"Okay," I said evenly, "if you're going to start lying to me, I'm going to stop talking to you."

He stopped, looking very torn, but I kept moving. After a moment, he darted forward to walk with me again. "I…I kissed him."

"I see," I met his eyes. "Don't do that anymore."

He shook his head in agreement in a way that suggested to me that he didn't want me to stop talking to him.

So it was working. Good.

Poor kid.

"He _was_ annoyed," he admitted, moving to walk with me again. "Trowa?"

"Yeah?"

"If…I told you something, do you think I'd get in trouble?"

"You _are_ eighteen," I reminded him. "That means legally liable. Unfortunately, I can't swear complete secrecy to you."

He had slowed and stopped for a moment before moving to catch up with me again. "Trowa?"

"Yeah?"

"If something happened…and…and I needed help…would you help me?"

"We all would," I noted, meeting his eyes. "I'm sure Duo'd be first on the scene."

He looked away. "If it was…bigger than that, though," he muttered. "If…I was in danger."

…and this would be what Quatre was conniving over.

"Would it endanger our children?"

"Maybe?"

"If we could manage it, we'd do it, son," I muttered, draping an arm over his shoulders. "We've saved the world, huh? What's a little babysitting for a friend?"

He smiled almost shyly at me and shook his head, pulling away.

"I think Selena's not so worried as you think," I added, considering it. "She and my wife tell each other everything, so my wife would warn me if she was feeling like you were stepping on her toes…you about ready to go in? It's kinda cold out and Wufei talked Hilde into making her pot pie again and I'm fairly certain that we can get some hot chocolate…then watch Ashley kick Duo's ass at chess."

He grinned at that, glancing sidelong at me.

"You play chess?" I asked curiously.

"Sorta."

"Good, I'll kick your ass."

He snorted. "You wish…"

"Cocky little soldier, aren't you?" I teased, smacking at him and dodging his return blow. He started laughing, moving at me again.

Life lesson number one, everyone needs _someone_ they can count on.

- -

E/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys, I'm glad you're enjoying it...


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

"Oh my god, _stop_ doing that!" I protested at Som.

He sniggered wickedly as Tro moved up beside him and gave me a curious look.

"He made me jump," I explained almost petulantly as I moved out of their way.

"That means you're supposed to go in," Trowa muttered quietly to him when he didn't move.

Som gave Trowa a look, then moved around me into the apartment.

"Where is everyone?" Trowa asked curiously.

"That's what I was trying to figure out," I explained. "You said Hilde was making pot pie again, right?"

He nodded. "She was baking it a while ago…I need to help her with Mikhail." He looked around the apartment and pointed at Dean, who was still in his bassinette. "Keep an eye on'em, huh, kid?"

He started to walk away.

"Trowa!" I protested, stepping after him.

"What?" he asked, turning to blink at me.

"…wir sind allein," I muttered, gesturing back at Som.

"What…German?" Som asked, moving up beside me.

I avoided letting him touch me carefully.

"I trust you," Trowa returned pointedly, studying my eyes. He watched me a second, then pointed at Som and turned to walk off.

Som moved away from me, crossing the room quietly to look at Dean, glancing back at me briefly.

"Um…" I hesitated to leave the door, looking for anyone in the hall. "Selena and Wufei decided they wanted to do a snack run."

"Yeah?" he asked, sitting on the couch. "How long do you think they'll be gone?"

"I dunno, ten, fifteen minutes."

"How long will it take Tro?"

"I have no idea how ready Hilde is," I returned, moving back into the place with my hands in my pockets as I met his eyes.

"How…are you?"

"A little tired," I muttered, sitting on the far arm of the couch. "I haven't been sleeping that well."

"If I could go back in time, I'd tell you no," he noted, looking down.

I sighed, wondering what I'd have done if he'd have actually said it. I knew all too well how easy it could be to ignore that…to get my way anyway…and I'd really been in that state of apathy.

"We can't change the past," I noted, not looking at him.

"I hate this," he muttered, running his hands over his face. "I liked it better when you were being a dickhead. At least then I could sit in a room with you without feeling like I was sinning."

"I fucked up," I returned, not quite looking at him.

"Why did you have to _tell_?" he hissed, standing and stopping near me. "If you wouldn't have said anything…"

"It's that easy, huh?" I demanded, meeting his eyes. "So simple to just lie?"

"At least then you could be _done_ with me," he retorted, storming toward the door.

"I'm not like those other guys," I noted before he could actually leave. I'd kinda done the math about his rant when I'd first shown him it _was_ a one-time mistake. "I wasn't only in it for a one night, and I _had_ to tell my wife."

He shook his head, then started to move again.

"_Ah!_ You're alone!" Heero was smiling happily as he bounced up and moved into the room, which made Som back up. He looked between us with bright and mischievous eyes before spotting the bassinette and stepping closer to see that my son was actually in the thing. "Oh, never mind…good job, junior. You're a good watchman."

"Heero," I muttered.

"Hush, Omae," he returned, gesturing for Som to sit. "I'm here now."

"Som was just leaving," I noted to my friend, looking away.

"Oh, nonsense," Heero retorted. "If you hadn't said anything you would have been like everyone else and just chased him off."

"I can _deal_ with that," he noted petulantly, looking away.

"What?" I asked blankly.

Heero flipped his cell phone with one hand. "Hilde started making food late so they won't be coming back up for another twenty minutes or something. Couldn't have a quickie now, could we?" he smirked at me, dropping on the couch and laying back.

I considered that a moment, then moved to straddle him. "I'm not _that_ bad."

Heero laughed wickedly as I started to unbutton his shirt, and he looked down at the thing before looking me in the face. "You _know_ I'm not that easy."

There was a noise and we both looked up to Som, who'd run into the second armchair while backing away.

Oh…yeah.

"Good, now I can make you stop," Heero muttered, shoving me off and sitting up again.

"What?" Som asked blankly.

"He's done it since he got back," Heero dismissed, fixing his shirt. "I used to freak out on him and tell him to stop…never seemed to work for some reason…"

"What?" Ryu whispered.

"What, what?" Heero returned.

Som met my eyes, his own going wide.

I sighed and moved away from them both, glancing at Dean to make sure he was still sleeping before leaning against the windowsill with my left hand in my pocket.

"What?" Heero protested.

"Nothing," Som muttered quietly. "I should get back to the base."

"No," Heero said simply.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm expected…"

"That's an order from your _king_," I snapped darkly.

"What?" Heero asked me quietly. "What's wrong?"

"Som didn't realize I was capable of rape."

"It's not in the typical mark-up of a _knight_, remember?"

"Capable?" Som asked quietly.

"He's admitted to raping Jun," Heero noted happily, moving into the kitchen. "That's another state secret. You'd be safe to assume that anything I tell you isn't to be repeated. Wufei told me he's told you the stories of Mr. Martin, so you know…"

"You raped Jun?" Som asked quietly.

"Ooh, rude," Heero muttered, digging into the fridge. "Didn't realize I was that nonessential to this conversation, maybe I should leave."

I didn't say anything.

"Duo?" Som asked.

I turned to snap at him, but he was standing within arm's reach of me and that interrupted my thoughts.

"You _raped_ Jun?" Som demanded, staring at me with wide eyes.

I wanted to say several things that were highly inappropriate, and my already dark mood hadn't gotten any brighter. I had my belt undone before I realized what I was doing, and in the moment that followed, Som almost got away before I had his arms wrapped in the thing, standing eye to eye with him. "What do _you_ think?"

That was what I'd wanted.

He looked startled and a little freaked out.

I yanked the thing and pulled his arms above his head, shoving him against the wall…and letting him go as I turned to storm toward my bedroom.

Heero was standing in my way, watching me with very serious eyes.

"What?" I snapped.

"I'm telling you right now that as soon as I leave this room, I'm heading straight to the medical examiner in the soldier's wing, and I'm picking up a sedative. Your behavior is turning erratic and I won't have you flying off the handle."

"What makes you think I'd _let_ you shoot me with that shit?" I hissed at him, considering his stance and how likely it was that he'd kept himself in shape.

"What makes you think I'd give you the opportunity to stop me?"

We stared at each other.

"Um…Duo?"

The fact that Som's voice was right at my shoulder made me jump hard and I turned on him before I realized what was really happening. He cursed as he fell backwards, but before anything else really registered, he was sitting on me with his chest heaving and his arms still wrapped together in front of his chest.

We met eyes for a matter of seconds before he was jumping off of me and I was jumping up from the floor.

Heero's laugh was a wicked and almost ugly thing as he moved past me and shoved his cup into my hands. I blinked down at that before realizing that he was trying to un-loop the belt.

"Shit," I snapped, shoving the cup back into his hands and working my fingers into the proper spot to yank and pull the belt loose.

"Daddy!" Ashley called, and I could hear her running across the hallway as I re-threaded the thing around my waist. "Daddy, is Deanie up yet?"

"Deanie?" I demanded, fastening my belt back down and turning toward the door. "That's a sissy name!"

Ashley giggled as Fei came bounding into the room and started sniffing excitedly at my feet, yipping at me as his tail wagged.

"And no, _Dean_ is not awake yet," I returned, bending over to pet the puppy.

"See?" Heero asked sweetly from behind me. "Erratic. Keep an eye on the love-birds," he noted in Cantonese to Trowa. "I need to head to the medical center."

"Hey, Heero?"

Heero turned back to look at me.

"Fuck you."

"The lord forgives all sin," he noted, his smile not reaching his eyes, "but you have to have faith to be forgiven."

"And just think," I called as he started off, "I _had_ faith until you got me drunk enough to fuck some woman."

"We aren't fighting, Duo," he noted from just outside the door. He pointed from himself to me. "_We_ aren't fighting. You can't really push me away when I'm under your skin, and you can't really expect me to flinch at these insults when I can see hell in your eyes. Once upon a time, I made a mistake…and my wife forgave me for it. You can wallow in self pity all you want, but you _did_ do it," he glanced toward Som. "And you _enjoyed_ it. So get over it, because you can't run from this with your babies standing here in confusion. I'm going to the medical wing."

"What?" Trowa asked blankly as Heero disappeared.

I had my teeth clenched.

"I think I should go," Som muttered quietly, starting away.

"Som," Ashley protested, moving to interrupt him, "Uncle said you'd play chess with me."

"I told you he _might_ if you _asked_ him to," Trowa retorted.

"Tell him to, he listens to you," she argued, then thought and looked to me. "Daddy?"

"I could tell him to do it, but that's not fair if he doesn't want to," I noted, moving toward my bedroom. "Watch the baby. I have to pee."

- -

Hell in _his_ eyes?

I smiled at the little girl across from me as she…thoroughly…kicked my ass at chess.

No…it wasn't hell in his eyes, he was in hell in his own home.

Wasn't getting a sedative shot a bit harsh?

"Hey, Q," Heero muttered, moving toward the blond. Everyone but Wufei and Selena had been served dinner and were just kinda floating around the house. "Here."

I turned my head in time to see Heero passing a syringe with a blue liquid to the blond man.

Quatre took it, studying it a moment before raising his eyes to Heero's.

"He's getting erratic," Heero explained quietly. "I don't think he'd lose it with junior there, but he might…end up hurting someone else."

What?

Sure, Duo had an explosive temper sometimes, but thinking he might hurt me? There was no way in hell he'd do anything to his daughter or wife, so…

This situation had definitely spun out of my control. There was no way in _hell_ I'd be able to fill my contract…but Trowa said he'd help me with that…with not doing it. Well, I hadn't told him, but…

"I hate you so bad right now," Duo said quietly.

Heero turned to look at the man, then pulled a handful of syringes from his pocket and passed one to Trowa.

"What's going on?" Trowa asked, studying the thing a moment before looking around as Heero passed one to Hilde and to Relena.

"Heero," Relena started.

"What are those?" Ashley asked, her head tilting in a manner that I'd seen in Duo countless times.

"Nothing," Duo said, looking away.

"You…don't really need to do this," Trowa noted, trying to pass his back to the king with a frown.

"We can talk about it without little ears," Heero noted, tucking his hands back into his pockets. "What are Selena and Wufei doing? I thought you said snack run."

Duo shook his head, looking away.

Seriously hell in his own home.

"Som?"

I looked back to Ash, who pointed at a piece. "Your turn."

"Oh," I considered the board a long moment before making my move.

"Didn't your daddy teach you how to play?" she demanded, making another move that was proving more and more that she was going to _win_.

"No," I returned. "My dad wasn't around. I saw him two or three times when I was little, but then he showed up again just before I came here."

"Oh," she thought, shifting in her seat. "So your dad is a meanie-head and you thought you'd give him a better chance to be nice?"

You couldn't fight the innocent mind.

I smiled slightly at her, making another move.

"But he was still mean, huh?" she added, thinking again as she looked the board over. "That's why you came here…my dad will be your dad."

I looked away from her.

"He will!" she protested. "He's a good dad! Huh, Daddy? Som can be my big brother."

Duo laughed a kind of laugh that didn't deny, then disappeared into his bedroom.

"Why is he sad?" she snapped at Heero. "You made him sad."

"It's adult stuff," Heero retorted. "You wouldn't get it."

"Aren't you _done_ yet?" Dustin demanded, moving up beside Ashley to look at the board.

"It's his turn and he thinks harder," Ash retorted, gesturing at me.

Dustin sighed, giving me a look…and moved a piece.

"Hey!" Ash protested as the thing was surrendered to my side.

"You're not too good at this, are you?" Dustin asked me. "You're losing and she's only seven."

Trowa started laughing, moving to snatch his son up. "Your Uncle Duo taught you all to play and Uncle Duo _thinks_ in strategy. Not everyone is taught to think like that, so don't be mean to Som because he only _kinda_ knows how to play."

I grinned at Trowa as the little boy giggled. "You're pokey! Mom, why did you let him get pokey!?"

"Because I like him pokey sometimes," Hilde retorted.

"Make him _shave_," Dustin persisted as they disappeared back into Ashley's room.

Hilde sniggered, moving up behind me and studying the board as Ashley made a move. "You should just surrender," she noted with a grin. "She won a long time ago."

I grinned. "It's kinda fun to see what she comes up with," I countered, winking at the girl.

"I suggest you give up the ghost."

"I don't give up," I explained, looking at her over my shoulder. "Until I'm dead, there's still a chance left."

"Oi, now you sound like Trowa," she muttered, rolling her eyes and moving away.

"You're a lot like us," Quatre mused. "You can move without being noticed and disappear in a heart-beat. Heero told me earlier that you had your arms tied up and still got Duo on his back…but you can't play chess?"

I looked to him with interest.

"Go," Ash muttered.

I considered the little girl a moment, then moved my piece.

"Hey!" she protested, sitting up to stare at the board and make her move. I actually _started_ playing as her protests got more and more in the upper ranges of dog hearing before we were at stand-off of one move and she was dead, or I was dead.

"I thought you only kinda knew," she protested at me, staring the pieces over.

"I wanted to see how smart you were," I retorted. "So I played like I was stupid."

She giggled at that, hesitating over a piece.

Quatre moved up behind her to look the board over then met my eyes…and moved her piece. "Check mate."

Ashley gasped, turning excited eyes up to mine.

"Just remember that when you work as a team, you have more than one mind to help," Quatre muttered to the child, kissing the top of her head as Duo moved up behind to look himself.

I hadn't realized he'd come out of the room. The little girl was _really_ good at the game, so I'd had to actually concentrate to finish it out.

"Life lesson number two, huh?" Heero asked. "Everyone needs someone to count on."

"That's life lesson number one," Trowa noted a bit sardonically.

"No, life lesson number one is the little things can make or break you," Heero retorted.

They grinned at each other.

"Life lesson number one is don't ask, don't tell," I corrected.

They all looked at me.

"One question leads to two," I shrugged, "and two leads to three, and three leads to nine and so on and so forth until you're either tangled in lies or have nothing left of yourself to give."

They all blinked at me.

"You so shoulda been more than _one_ during the war," Quatre muttered almost pointedly with a sidelong look at Duo.

…and Trowa caught Duo around the middle much like he had at the court-trial thing.

"Daddy!" Ashley squeaked, jumping out of her chair.

…the anger was gone that fast.

I blinked at the man, then at his little girl as she moved up to him with disbelief.

"I'm mad," Duo informed her, lifting her from the floor to study her eyes seriously. "I'm really mad right now, and that's why I'm sad, okay? That medicine Uncle Heero has is so I can sleep if I get too mad, all right?"

She nodded, her eyes wide.

"If I get mad and they give me that medicine, you need to not be scared or worried, okay? Because I'll take a nap and be in a better mood when I wake up…right? Like when you're grumpy after school and we make you lay down. I can't take naps anymore, I try but I can't fall asleep because I have an adult mind with adult thoughts that don't shut up. You understand?"

"So that's nap-time medicine?" she asked in return, thinking it over. She was probably looking for something wrong with the _logic_. "Because you're grumpy?"

"Yeah."

"And…it's okay?"

"It's okay," he replied, hugging her tightly. "I love you."

"And Deanie?"

"His name is _not_ Deanie," Duo retorted. "He's Dean Evan, and Deanie is a sissy name."

She giggled almost wickedly and kissed his nose before scrambling from his arms and disappearing into her bedroom.

Everyone was watching Duo.

Duo turned and moved to be in Heero's face until the king stepped back slightly, then sauntered over and sat across from me at the table. "Let's go. I want to see if I can kick your ass."

- -

E/N: Thanks for the reviews, Race and Snow...I'm glad people are enjoying this, because I do tend to have fun writing these things, lol. In case it hasn't been noticed, FF doesn't seem to be sending out Alerts for anything anymore...so...yeah. If something happens, and the site _does_ go down, I update my mediaminer account at about the same time as here, and if you go to my website and be able to read, too. I'll catch y'all later. (the site is linked from my profile, or my livejournal, or my myspace...lmao. Shit, google "Kyeian" and it'll pop up, too...I'm such a dork...)

I apologize to anyone who may be offended by the content of this story...just on a general note.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Christmas came and passed without any real incident, and the only thing that happened on New Year's was that I'd had to pull the sedative shot out of my pocket to remind Duo that we were still worried about him.

It was like…it was like Duo when he'd first gotten back, how none of us had known how to deal with him or what he might actually _do_.

He and Selena got into a real fight a few days after New Year, and they'd both had some serious bruising that had freaked Som out entirely, but none of us had been particularly perturbed since Selena'd had Hilde and Alex watching Dean and Ashley before it had happened—which meant she'd done it on purpose.

Duo'd been in the sort of bouncing mood the next day that suggested the fight had led to a make-up session, and aside from occasionally going dreamy during our next meeting, things had been normal.

Relena's doctor had come set up in the palace, because the queen didn't give birth at Sacred Healing like the other royals would…and Relena's technical due date was about two weeks away.

Commence the waiting game.

It didn't matter that it had been months since she'd _gotten_ pregnant, because the baby didn't show up until some time during the tenth month…or something.

I grinned to myself.

Things were calming down, finally. Duo was off running around after his paper-work got done, and Quatre was impatiently pacing every time he'd come back. I had no idea what the pair were up to, but they were playing the game they called 'conniving bastards' and that meant the rest of us got to watch spy against spy.

The only problem was that Duo could actually pull _off_ being sneaky, whereas Quatre would ask random questions without preamble and his eyes would be…calculating.

I knew that if I asked Quatre what was happening, he'd tell me. He worked under me, even if he did work for the Alliance of Nations. I could never make myself think of it as just "the Alliance" like so many other people had, because we'd fought against the Alliance when we were teens. His oath of fealty, anyway, meant he had to answer me.

Before I'd chased Duo out into the forest, I hadn't realized they were _actually_ loyal to me. They were my friends, and I was the king. Of course…we'd always been loyal to Relena.

It was weird to think of myself as their _real_ leader…shit, I let Duo be dominant half the time anyway.

Maybe that was why it was all so easy.

…And on a more random note, the older girls were sixteen, and their spring formal was on the horizon.

I had spotted my calendar with the date circled in bright pink with little daisies along with it—meaning that one of the girls didn't want me to forget.

I didn't know what it was about being sixteen and having a dance, but I was incredibly nervous about the whole thing. I was also beginning to _dread_ the day my _own_ daughter would turn sixteen, in nine years or so, and have _her_ dances…granted, she'd have a sweet sixteen party that'd be huge, too…

Ack.

- -

"Hello, Mrs. Ryu?"

"Mrs. Shiaben," she corrected. "My mom divorced Sunan Ryu back before the wars started."

I blinked at that. "Who is this?"

"Suri Tablou," she returned.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen, why?"

I blinked. "I just…"

"If you didn't even know Mom's last name, then who the hell is this?"

"I wanted to ask about Som Ryu," I returned.

"What _about_ Som? I'm his sister," she snapped at me irritably.

"Hm…well, his schooling," I noted dubiously.

"Who is this?"

"My name is Ocean," I returned, grinning slightly.

"Ocean?" she asked.

"Sergeant," I agreed. "I work with Ryu here in the Sanq military. I just noticed that Ryu seems to have some training."

She snorted. "He could probably join the military outright. Why?"

"Just checking," I reassured her.

She thought a long moment. "That doesn't make sense."

"I'm sorry?" I asked, grinning more. "We're breaking up…"

"I said it doesn't make sense," she retorted loudly. "Why would some Sergeant be calling here?"

"Huh? Oh…never mind," I muttered like I was annoyed. "You're his sister, right?"

"Half-sister, yeah," she agreed.

"I'll give him your regards…have a good day."

"Wait," she protested.

"What?" I grinned even more.

"I said…"

I hung up on her and stretched, moving from the booth happily.

I didn't realize he had any siblings.

So why would she think he could join the military out-right?

This was what Quatre was trying to figure out. What was the extent of it? Could I note the finding that he'd been trained and win, or did this go deeper?

My cell started ringing and I glanced at the face. "Hey, baby," I muttered happily, setting it to my ear.

Som started laughing wickedly.

"Give me that," Selena protested, which made the boy's laughter turn more into innocent fun. "Duo?"

"What's going on?" I asked, glad no one was around to see me almost blushing.

"I want chocolate and roses," she explained. "Som was gonna be sneaky and tell you for me, but then you greeted him like _that_…"

"It's _your_ number," I retorted. "Why _wouldn't_ I call you baby?"

She giggled. "Where are you?"

"Heading into the grocery store 'cause I thought it'd be nice to get my wife flowers and chocolate," I returned, heading back to my rig.

She laughed her own happily wicked laugh…and hung up.

I never claimed my lover made sense. Life lesson number one, huh? Everyone makes sense until you get to know them.

- -

I stretched my foot out and kicked Duo.

He kicked me back.

I grinned when he met my eyes and watched him a moment longer…and kicked him again.

"Wufei," he protested, kicking me back.

"What?" I asked innocently.

He focused on me, then raised his eyebrows.

"What?" I protested again. "I didn't do anything."

"You know, you lot make a lot of no sense," Som noted, looking between Duo and I. "First you half rape the king, now the military leader is trying to play footsies with you."

Duo sniggered, flashing him an appreciative grin before going back to his food.

"Half-rape the king?" Relena asked skeptically.

"Do I look bruised to you?" Heero asked curiously.

Duo laughed again.

"Heero," Som said the name hesitantly, like waiting to be reprimanded, "…laid down on Duo's couch, and Duo sat on him."

"Oh," Relena rolled her eyes, "that." She started to eat, too.

Duo sniggered, looking to the boy. "I do that to him all the time. It's kinda like Wufei kicking me. I want his attention, so I get it."

I kicked him again.

Duo grinned at that.

"I've been neglected," I explained to the boy innocently, focusing on my food, too.

"I'd hardly call it neglect," Jacob noted happily.

I flashed him a grin.

"You two are _still_ messing around?" Selena asked them in almost dismay. "I thought you were just…"

"Yeah," I agreed, laughing. "Then it doubles back on when Quatre asked what was up and he said dating…can't argue it."

Jacob smacked me.

"Wufei," Duo frowned, meeting my eyes.

"What?" I challenged. "Say something…"

"I asked you to get with a girl," Duo explained quietly. "I just…I want you happy…and don't want to lose Jacob if stupid shit comes up."

I sighed, shaking my own head as I went back to eating.

"_Unlike_ Miguel," Jacob noted pointedly, "I _like_ you all, and _unlike_ Miguel…or any of the other dumb asses…I know better than trying to separate the lot of you."

I didn't say anything more.

"Besides," he noted, glancing at me, "that same time when I said dating, he said fucking. I know what I'm in for."

I frowned, looking to him.

He smiled at me, starting to eat again.

"I just love these happy family conversations," Selena muttered, rolling her eyes and snapping a fortune cookie open since it was Chinese take-out. "It says I'll be disappointed when new information plays me false..."

"In bed," Duo, Heero, Trowa, and I finished in unison.

"I'm sorry, Som," she muttered, resting her hand on the boy's, "I won't be sleeping with you."

He instantly flushed red and glanced at Duo…

"Hey, I never told you he was any good, so don't just presume he's not worth your time."

The boy flushed harder.

"Would you _stop_ it?" Trowa demanded, giving them both looks. "You've traumatized the boy enough. I know you're just fucking around, but he doesn't know us that well yet."

Selena smiled at the kid, flicking his hair before going back to eating again.

"Does it really say that?" Duo demanded, sitting up to look across the table at the piece of paper. "What's up with that?"

"I dunno, what's yours say?" she asked, offering him the tray.

He selected one and opened the wrapper…then snapped it in half and shoved most of a half in his mouth as he straightened the little thing out. "Hm…follow your instincts to find great satisfaction…"

"In bed!" Heero, Quatre, and Jacob quipped excitedly.

"Selena, can I steal your husband?" I asked sweetly.

"He'll share," Jacob agreed.

Selena laughed wickedly and threw half her cookie at him.

"Do yours next," Duo ordered the kid, taking the tray and offering it across the table to him.

Som hesitated, looking to me warily, then picked one and opened it.

"Well?" Quatre pressed after a moment.

He frowned and shrugged, starting to set it down.

"You're denying the boys their fun" Selena protested. "The only reason they order Chinese is so they can yell 'in bed' when someone's read their fortune."

I laughed happily at that, along with Heero.

Som frowned at us and looked away. "Now is the time to try something new," he quoted.

"In bed," Duo mused, raising his eyebrows as he looked to Heero.

I started laughing evilly, covering my mouth with one hand.

Heero was laughing as well, opening his mouth as he looked to Duo, then back to the kid. He started laughing harder, looking away.

Relena rolled her eyes, looking to Hilde.

"What?" Jacob demanded of the king.

"I can't say it," Heero returned, starting to laugh harder. "I can't…"

"No, what?" Quatre pressed.

"I just…" Heero started laughing a bit harder.

"What?" Trowa asked levelly.

"Have you ever tried a threesome?" Heero asked the kid…and died laughing.

Som was blushing, looking away.

Relena and Duo both smacked him, but the only thing it resulted in was Heero laughing even harder.

I grinned at the kid and shook my head slightly so he knew the rest of us weren't going to follow up on that one. "We will tease you some, but that's further than most of us will press."

"I wasn't going to _say_ it," Heero informed me, though he was still grinning. "It was just my first thought."

"Eat your chow-mien, dear," Selena suggested, pushing Som's hand with chopsticks nearer his plate. "You can handle those things and I find it immensely interesting to see you eat without making a mess while all the other boys drip all down their shirts."

Som smiled almost innocently at that, taking another bite.

Trowa, who was sitting on his other side, reached over and smacked his arm.

- -

"Aren't you cute?" Jacob muttered, moving into my apartment and looking me over with a grin.

"Hey," I muttered, rousing from the doze I'd been falling into. Wufei was curled against my side and Selena had gone to bed with Dean a while back.

"I was going to go to bed," Jacob added, then indicated Wufei with his head.

I grinned at him and shrugged slightly. "I hope you didn't take my comment wrong earlier. I didn't mean anything against you."

"Hm," he shrugged. "There's a level of unreality to everything going on right now. I mean…Heero passed us all enough tranquilizer to fell an elephant for you and you instantly accepted it."

"You remember what happened…with Kayla?" I asked quietly, looking away from him. "You guys didn't see what I did to that waiting room…" I shook my head. "It scares me that he thinks he needs it, because he doesn't come to these conclusions lightly. I might not be happy about it, but I can't actually say he's over-reacting."

"What happened?" he asked quietly, moving to sit beside Wufei and study my face seriously. "With all of this…what _happened_?"

I looked away a long moment before shrugging almost uncomfortably. "I was in a bad way, you know? It didn't take me long after she died to be smoking vrit and popping kaseen…I'd get drunk, too," I raised my eyes to his. "I didn't realize what I was doing most of the time…at first. The fact that I realized it and then dived into it still scares me shitless sometimes. I hurt a lot of people for nothing more than a laugh and a lay. Fuck, for all I know I could have _children_ running around, because the only person I was keeping dibs on was Keith. The rest were just incidental moments." I thought a moment, looking toward the windows. "I…didn't care. I haven't been in too great a mood for a while now, and then when I tried to tell Nira I thought we should get away for a while, she misunderstood me. The fact that she thought I'd _want_ to leave her scared me, because I didn't think my affection had actually stopped…and then she told me not to come home." I grinned slightly, looking to him. "Wanna know what scares me the most?"

"What?"

"Losing my children."

He blinked at me.

"I lost Kayla," I noted, looking down to Wufei since I could tell he'd woken up. "I lost Kayla…and it destroyed me. Everything I was…everything I thought I was going to be…it was just _gone_…and I don't want that to happen again."

"So why, exactly, did Heero decide we might need to tranq you?"

"Because he said I was being erratic," I mused, looking away. "He…he's been normal with me, you know? When he laid on the couch," I moved my head to indicate where we were sitting, "I straddled him. I do it all the time when no one else is around…and start to unbutton his shirt. He probably told Relena about it, because aside from today, I'd never done it with anyone else around before."

"He's told us all," Jacob dismissed that.

I grinned a bit, then sighed. "Trowa took off and left Som with me when he went to help Hilde…and everyone else was gone. Som told me if he could turn back time…he would, and he'd tell me no."

"Valid decision," Wufei noted, sitting up to raise an eyebrow at me. "As a matter of fact, you should have thought of it yourself."

I gave him a look, moving around some since he'd been on me like that for more than an hour. "Telling me no doesn't always work, Wufei. If you'd think a moment, I have to care to think about your words. I didn't care at that point…because caring hurt."

"Wonderful," Wufei muttered, rubbing at his eyes. "Now I know when you'll do shit."

"Mm, Heero used to tell me to stop undoing his shirt and fight me off. I wasn't actually _doing_ anything so I'd just kinda ignore it…he was noting that to Som and Som realized that…"

"You're an undying bastard?" Wufei asked sweetly.

"Something like that," I agreed, rolling my eyes and shifting forward in my seat. "Som decided it'd be a good idea to _demand_ of me if I'd raped Jun…because Heero'd told him. That kinda upset me."

"You start shouting?" Jacob asked, thinking about that.

I pulled my belt off instead, deciding to startle the shit out of both of them. I didn't want them to hesitate if I needed to be knocked out…and it was kinda fun to fuck with them.

I had Jacob's wrists cinched together and had him on his back across the couch before he realized what I'd been doing. I grinned down at him as he stared up at me in amazement, then realized exactly what I'd done and froze.

"Duo?" Wufei asked in a scared sounding voice.

"Yeah?" I asked, not moving.

"I think you just broke my liver."

I sniggered, moving to rest my weight on my right elbow and look at him since he was around my feet.

…he had the syringe package in his hand.

I stopped smiling at that.

"I know Heero," he informed me, studying my eyes. "Don't do that anymore."

I looked away, then rolled off the couch to land on my feet in a squatting position and unhooked the belt.

"Wufei? We should go," Jacob noted.

"He's not _that_ freaky," Wufei protested.

Jacob laughed evilly. "That's not why we should go."

I gave the guy a look, freeing the belt completely and smirking at him.

He grinned at me and hopped off the couch. "Night, Duo."

"Yeah, get some sleep," I retorted as he more or less hauled Wufei off the couch.

Wufei was laughing.

I shook my head slightly, moving across my apartment to check on my daughter—she was sleeping soundly. I turned and moved back into my bedroom, stretching slightly before dropping the belt in front of my dresser and kicking off my shoes.

"What can I do?" Selena asked quietly.

"Be my wife," I returned. "I'll be your husband…and we can just go from there."

She snorted.

"When do you think he'll wake up again?" I added, glancing at the bassinette.

"I dunno," she muttered. "He's been asleep for an hour."

"So any time now?"

She made an amused noise.

"I'm gonna get changed."

- -

E/N: Thanks for the Reviews...


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

"Shush," I muttered to Som, who was trying to protest at me. We moved down in front of Duo's office, and I looked around to make sure my husband wasn't near…and darted into the room, pulling the boy after. I closed the door after us and flashed him a grin before bouncing across the space.

"What are you doing?" he asked, frowning as he moved to follow me.

"I'm playing," I returned, taking the pen that was in the middle of the desk and frowning at it.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head at me.

"This isn't the pen I bought him," I explained, looking around the desk. "I bought him a pen and he always used it."

"He…broke one the first day I was here," he suggested. "He had to get different forms…he had me do it."

"Oh," I blinked, wondering why he hadn't mentioned it, then shrugged and flipped open the folder on is desk. I took a moment to write out a blond joke that was _highly_ inappropriate, then offered the thing for my companion to read.

"Oh…jeeze…" Som muttered, walking away from the desk a few steps with a roll of his eyes, then glanced at his watch. "I'm gonna be late," he muttered. "Wufei will _kill_ me if I'm late…"

I laughed at that, bouncing to follow him from the room. I hooked my fingers into his belt as I went, and noticed him glancing over his shoulder at me.

"Hey…" Duo started, coming up a hall from the left and pausing to blink at us.

I smiled winsomely at him and followed the boy around a corner.

- -

"Well?" Jun demanded of Sunan.

"Well what?" Sunan retorted.

"What's _taking_ so long?" Jun snapped.

"You ask me like I know," Sunan rolled his eyes. "I told you, the boy has to work in his own time."

"You mean to tell me that he couldn't have gotten into Maxwell's pants by now? The damn Cat is _always_ in heat and your boy is such fresh meat that he would have snatched it up immediately."

Sunan glowered at that observation.

"I'm losing my _patience_, Sunan," Jun growled at him irritably. "If this takes much longer I'll make the call."

"Leave the girl alone," Sunan snarled, moving in to stand in Jun's face. "She has _nothing_ to do with this."

"Mighty protective of a bitch that's not even yours," Jun retorted.

…Sunan punched him.

- -

"You look like hell," I muttered, blinking at my father on the vid.

"Yeah, I pissed off the wrong people," Sunan returned. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm going through training," I noted pointedly. "What do you think? That I'd be here a month and move along happily? Seriously, _Dad_."

"It's been _five_ months."

"No shit?" I retorted. "Leave me alone."

"Get into town and call me," he snapped…and hung up.

"Someone looked a little worse for wear."

I jumped hard, turning to look at Quatre…who was picking at a half peeled orange.

"Sir," I muttered, saluting him quickly, hitting the disconnect button.

"What happened to him?" he asked curiously, glancing at the vid.

"He didn't say…just that he pissed someone off."

"That's too bad," he mused, pulling out another wedge. "Have some," he suggested…and very nearly shoved the bit into my mouth.

I frowned at him, wiping at my lips as I chewed.

"You coming up for dinner, huh?" he added, moving so I could walk past him.

"I wasn't invited," I returned, frowning as he followed after me.

"What? Don't be stupid…of course you're invited. Why do you think I'm here?"

"Good day, sir," the guard for the vid room muttered, saluting.

Quatre winked at him, moving to stand beside me. "Come on."

"I want to get out of uniform," I noted, looking down as we moved more into the empty hallways.

"What did you and Nira do in Duo's office?" he asked curiously.

"She…she was playing," I explained as we started down a completely empty hall.

"Here," he added, shoving a bit of orange into my mouth. I stopped walking again…and he trailed his thumb over my lips.

I frowned at him.

He laughed a bit wickedly, his smile flashing a little too true. "I'm heading up. Get changed and come up."

"I'd rather not intrude," I muttered, feeling remarkably uncomfortable.

He leaned forward so we were eye to eye. "Get changed, and come up, huh, baby?"

I blinked at that as he laughed again…and turned away.

I watched him go, wondering what the hell _that_ was supposed to have been. Quatre always struck me as weird, but that kinda took the cake.

I licked at my lips slightly as I started for the room, then wiped at my mouth.

So what _had_ happened to my father?

…I really wanted to talk to Trowa.

- -

"So, husband," Relena muttered, "you might want to join me at the doctor's suite."

"Oh?" I asked, stopping to stare at my desk.

"Yeah," she returned. "I seem to have started going into labor…at least I assume, it hurts a bit…and a lot."

I bolted for the door, catching the jamb to stop my motion as I turned to Robert, my work friend. "Relena's going into labor," I explained, then ran.

"Wait!" he shouted after me, but that was as far as that one went as I hung up on my wife and hit the two.

"Yo?" Duo asked curiously.

"She's having it," I returned, starting up some stairs and hanging up. I hit the three.

"I'm kinda busy," Trowa noted to me politely.

"Too busy for a baby, huh?" I asked, darting along the corridor that Quatre's office was in and pounding on the door as I passed. "Come on, Tro, we're better friends than that."

He started laughing and I hit the five as Quatre stepped from his office and met my eyes.

I wasn't stopping.

"Damn," he muttered, turning back into the room.

"What's up?"

"Baby," I returned…realizing that I needed to try full sentences. "Uh…Relena's going into labor."

"Shit, all right," Wufei agreed.

I hung up and hit the six.

"Heero?" Hilde asked curiously.

"You with Relena?"

"Yeah, I am…I called Selena already."

"All right," I muttered, slowing slightly as I entered a more traveled part of the castle. "How much time do I have?"

"A while now, she's not dilating very fast."

"All right," I agreed and hung up, hitting the eight.

"Yo?" Jacob muttered.

"Relena's with the doctor, going into labor."

"I'm on it, two kegs of beer and a very old bottle of wine."

I laughed at that, hanging up…then slowed and realized I should probably get ahold of the press secretary.

"Mr. Yuy," the woman muttered happily. "How can I help you?"

"I just thought you might like to know that Relena's going into labor, thought it might be nice to share."

"What?" she demanded. "What else do you know?"

"Nothing, she just called me about two minutes ago…might possibly be a false alarm, but she's _due_ tomorrow."

"The kingdom's holding it's breath, waiting," she noted in amusement.

I laughed at that. "I'm glad to do my duty…"

She laughed delightedly. "Well, be sure to let me know…I'll get this to the news."

"Awesome," I muttered, hanging up and moving into suite before heading up the hall to the room. "Hey, what can I do to help?"

Relena smiled at me sweetly. "I hate you right now."

"I'm sorry!" I protested, darting forward to grab her hand and hug her.

We'd decided mutually that our apartments would _not_ be a good place for her to give birth. We had the doctor set up in a nice three roomed suite not far from the royal rooms…as in the next door down from the divide. Relena'd been spending her last week or so sitting in the doctor's apartment and joking with the woman. She'd been the one to deliver Faye, so the pair got along.

"What do you want me to do?" Duo demanded, breaking into the room to look between us a bit wildly.

"Make sure the country doesn't fall apart at the seams," Relena returned happily. "I think I'm going to be in here all day."

Duo grinned at that, moving over to kiss her forehead, before resting a hand on my shoulder.

"We do have plenty of time," the doctor noted, moving into the room. "At least for now. There's no reason to start the huddle yet."

"I…just kinda called everyone," I admitted.

She smiled at me as Hilde came in with a cup. "We're going to need more tea for him, I think."

"I'm not _that_ bad," I retorted.

"You're worse than Trowa," she countered, moving to sit on the far side of my wife and offer her the cup. "And he gets told to sit down by the doctors. I think you only didn't pass out from sheer force of will last time."

I grinned at that.

"I'll…go get some files from your office," Duo muttered, patting my back. "We can work on them as we wait."

"I think my wife deputized you as temporary king," I retorted. "_You_ can do it."

"I do it anyway," he reminded me. "And I'm not doing it all, and it will make us look busy if any cameramen come in."

I laughed and elbowed him in the thigh.

"Ouch…do that again."

I turned and kicked him since he was on his way out the door, and he laughed happily at me before disappearing.

"Glad to see the boys haven't grown up too fast," the doctor muttered to Relena.

"You have _no_ idea," Relena muttered, rolling her eyes…and squeezing at my hand.

"Are you all right?" I asked, looking around for something to do to help.

Hilde giggled at me.

"Shut-up," I muttered petulantly.

The doctor shoved a chair up behind me. "Have a seat, huh, Majesty?"

I grinned at her, then looked back to Relena.

"What's going on?" Trowa asked, darting into the room. "What can I do to help?"

The doctor grinned.

- -

"We decided," Relena noted, smiling at the camera from where she was holding her second daughter, "after some consideration…to name her Tasia Brie Yuy." She smiled more, tiredly.

"Can we see her?" the cameraman asked, moving closer to the bed. "Or would you rather wait?"

"It's fine," Heero muttered, rising from his seat to take the little girl from his wife's arms and fold back the receiving blanket. He moved closer to the camera, and smiled down at his perfect little girl.

I really liked that moment…when I'd gotten to share not only Dustin, but Mikhail with the country. That first glimpse they'd get of _my_ baby. I knew Heero didn't like it any less, and the baby's eyes opened.

"She's gorgeous," the cameraman muttered as his assistant tried to move around to look, too.

"Just like her mother," Heero noted, touching her cheek and smiling at the camera before turning and sitting again.

"I'm tired," Relena informed the cameramen with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," the guy muttered, bowing to her as best he could under the equipment. "Thank you, very much."

Relena smiled at him, and he started backing up carefully with the assistant beside him.

I sniggered. "Hey?"

The cameraman looked at me.

I gestured the assistant forward, and he gave me an utterly confused look. "Come on," I suggested. "You didn't get to see her, and that's hardly fair."

"Huh?" Heero asked.

"Camera was in the way," I explained.

"Oh, huh?" Heero smiled and moved forward…offering the little bundle to the assistant.

Actually, he'd done the same thing with Faye when the cameraman filming now had been the assistant.

The kid, because he was barely any older than Som, took the baby and stared down at it before looking up to Heero in amazement. There was a sort of awe in that look, like the man considered himself blessed or something.

Heero didn't realize how easily he gained the loyalty of the people. These little gestures, that probably didn't mean much to him at all, showed a very sincere man. A man who cared about his people, and even if Heero didn't give more than a passing shit about the matter, they did.

"She's beautiful, huh?" Heero muttered, taking his daughter back from the man and smiling at him.

"Thank you, Majesty," the guy muttered, bowing low to him and again to Relena…then turned and darted from the room.

I grinned.

"He just bolted like a bunny," Heero noted to Relena.

"I think it had something to do with holding a royal princess when she's only an hour old, dear," Relena replied. "Give me my daughter."

"Faye?" Heero called, barely raising his voice.

Relena giggled, and Heero passed the infant over before looking to me.

"Yeah, I know," I muttered, pulling myself to my feet.

Relena's labor had been slow, and not overly painful. She'd had the epidural with plenty of time, and she probably was _very_ tired.

It was going on nine…we'd gotten the call that it was all starting around one.

Seven hours wasn't _too_ bad…but I'd never say that to any woman who'd ever given birth without expecting to get the shit beaten out of me.

"I'll put the other knights to bed and make sure they obeyed the children."

Relena giggled more.

"I'll…go with you," Heero muttered. "If Faye's still awake she should come see her sister."

- -

"Yay! No one's pregnant anymore!" I muttered tiredly, dropping onto the couch next to Som.

Som grinned at me.

"You have any siblings?" I asked curiously, wondering what he'd say to that as I adjusted Dean slightly as I sat so I could hold his bottle better. I needed to figure out how far the extra training went before I mentioned anything to Q.

"A sister," he returned, shrugging. "She's the same age as Alex and Marlea."

"She spoiled?"

"We aren't exactly a rich family," he shrugged a bit. "We get by, and when I get time off I'm gonna go home and buy her something."

"Like what?"

He grinned and shrugged.

"You miss her, huh?"

"Almost…kinda," he shrugged at me. "It's weird not to have her around."

"I never had any siblings of my own," I noted, tapping the end of the bottle with my finger. Dean didn't react to it and hadn't really been sucking for a while, so I pulled the thing out of his mouth and set it on coffee table. "I dealt with a lot of kids, so I guess that counts." I draped the burp-rag over my shoulder and situated the baby so I could burp him.

"I don't get you," Som noted, studying me seriously.

"Why's that?" Selena asked, coming out of the bedroom and touching his hair.

"He never…he…" Som frowned, looking to Selena. "He's all masculine, but then when he's with the kids it's different."

"No it's not," she muttered, sitting in the armchair. "Any man worth the title cares for the young. When you have children, you'll understand."

"I always thought my dad was a man," he noted, looking toward the floor. "Most of the men I knew growing up had nothing to do with their kids…take'em out for a day at the park or something, then leave with the mother and move on…even my sister's dad did that."

"It's all too common anymore," Selena noted. "He's asleep, honey."

"He hasn't burped," I protested, rubbing a little harder at his back.

"He's sleeping…he'll fuss when he's ready."

I sighed, moving to lay him in his bassinette again. "Where's Ash?"

"She and Faye were down at Dustin's earlier," Selena shrugged. "I assume that's where they are now."

"Who called?" I pointed at the phone.

"Jane," she replied dryly. "Informing me that she's having her baby shower this Saturday."

"She's due like…next month," I protested. "Or did they change the date?"

"I don't know," she rolled her eyes. "She still doesn't know who the _father_ is."

I sighed, shaking my head sadly.

"What?" Som asked curiously.

"My sister is pregnant," Nira shrugged. "I haven't really had all that much to do with her ever, but I'm rich now, so she expects me to give her shit she can pawn."

He blinked.

"Sorry, my sister…my mother, even," she shrugged and made a face at me. "The only one I get along with is Keith, and he only tolerates him because Ash pays _way_ too much attention to shit."

"Why do I get the impression I don't want to cross you?" Som muttered, studying my eyes.

I smirked, studying him over. "Because when I don't care, I make sure it'll be _worth_ my time when I get over it."

That got a moment of consideration before a blink and blush.

I grinned, stretching and popping my neck. "For some reason, I feel like oranges."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

"Love you," Duo muttered, kissing Ashley's head. "I'll see you in a few days, huh?"

"Okay," Ash agreed, smiling brightly up at him.

It was Friday, and for all that Selena'd been griping about going to her sister's baby-shower, it'd taken remarkably little time for her to have a guard lined up to go with her and the kids.

Seeing as Tasia had been born on Tuesday, and Relena'd deputized Duo as temporary king, he couldn't very well go, so his wife and children were taking a vacation of a sort, and he was not.

I had to wonder if that bothered him.

I waved at Ashley when she waved at me.

"Make sure your mother goes to bed _on_ time," Duo ordered the little girl, who promptly started to giggle…and Selena pulled away with a parting smile.

Duo watched them go, then sighed and turned to look at me.

"What?" I asked.

He turned his neck from one side to the other, then shook his head…and flinched. His shoulders rounded back slightly and his head flicked, almost like stretching, but he did it so often…

I wasn't sure how many times I'd seen him do it…but it was consistent enough that I was actually starting to get worried about it. He did it again, then shook his head hard and started toward me. "Come on. You're supposed to be on bed leave."

I laughed at that, following after him.

His phone started ringing before either of us could speak, and he twitched again. "Maxwell…yes. No. Yes…all right. I'll…hold on," he turned to look at me. "I've gotta go take care of this. Get back up to the apartments and I'll see you for dinner."

I nodded and watched him disappear into the building.

It was all well and good for Relena to give the reigns to Duo. Duo would have made a much better king than I did, but I couldn't help but wish it'd been Trowa who'd come in first. Trowa wouldn't have been bothered by that, and then Duo could have gotten away with Selena instead of developing a tic.

I sighed and moved quickly toward the apartments.

I didn't want to _annoy_ Duo right now.

- -

"Ryu!"

"Yes, sir?" I asked, turning instantly to salute the sergeant approaching me.

"You got a date tonight?"

"I'm sorry?" I asked blankly. "I don't understand what you mean."

"You're standing first shift watch-duty."

"Yes, sir," I returned instantly, nodding at that.

Most of my sergeants didn't really like me. I wasn't sure if it was because I was doing everything they told me a lot quicker than the other recruits, or if it was because every night I was whisked away by Trowa before joining the group of leaders for supper. Of course, I got away with shit with Wufei, too.

I sighed and went back to reading the documents they'd shoved on me to memorize, wondering if the knights had the shit memorized.

"Ryu!"

I turned at Duo's voice, saluting instantly as the sergeant near me stopped to salute as well.

"Now," Duo snapped, actually snapping his fingers and pointing next to him. The annoying thing about it was that he was teaching the puppy Fei to heel with that exact same gesture.

I darted across the grounds to join him as the sergeant raised his arms in exasperation.

"Ramon," Duo said levelly, "I need the recruit more than you do."

"I'm sorry, sir," Ramon retorted irritably. "I'm used to being able to _train_ my soldiers."

"Don't make me remind you that I trained _you_," Duo said levelly.

Ramon sighed and saluted.

I saluted him in return and darted after Duo.

"He thinks he's hot shit but he's not," Duo noted as we started down another set of stairs. "You're my runner," he added, meeting my eyes. "Take this," he passed his official folder into my hands and took away my book thing. "Go down to central and pick up the folder that they've got for me, then go to Tomé's office and get his secretary to give you three copies of his reports. Then you need to go…"

…how the _fuck_ could _he_ keep it all straight? I nodded as I listened, memorizing the instructions and wondering why there was so much _more_ than before. When I'd been his assistant I'd got to do this shit, but it hadn't been so _extreme_.

"I'm heading to the council room," he added, studying my eyes. "Come directly to me. I need this shit done five minutes ago, and you haven't disappointed me yet."

I flashed him a brief smile, then turned to run to central.

"Right, so get someone to _fix_ it," he added irritably into his cell phone. "I don't understand why you didn't do it weeks ago when the tree _fell_ on it."

I had to imagine that half the reason Duo'd grabbed _me_ was because everyone I was going to now had gotten used to me doing his errands before. It'd been several months, but it did make it a lot quicker when I was holding Duo's folder and asking for his files.

"Som!"

I came up short, turning instantly to Quatre.

"What's going on? That's Duo's, isn't it?"

"I'm kinda in a rush," I returned, starting to chant the last of the instructions to myself so I didn't lose them.

That'd be _hell_.

Of course, it made me stop completely when I realized that Quatre was holding _another_ half peeled orange.

I frowned at him, shifting back slightly.

It seemed like every day he showed up when I was in some abandoned hall with an orange like that.

"What are you doing?"

"Duo came and got me," I explained, staying back from him as he continued to move up to me. "He needs me to get this stuff done for him."

I blinked, then quickly started reciting the instructions in my mind again.

"You want some?" he asked, offering the thing over a bit.

I shook my head.

He snorted at that, pulling a wedge off and actually eating it himself. "Go on," he added, gesturing at me. "Get out of here."

"Later," I muttered, then turned and ran.

I'd never smell another fucking orange without thinking of that man…

I stopped dead as I turned into a hall, realizing that I'd lost my next step.

…damn!

- -

"Great, thanks," I muttered to Som, taking my folder from him as he stopped next to me with his chest heaving. "Take a minute, because I've got another list."

He blinked at that, then dropped his rear onto the table beside me. "I got it all, right?"

I flicked through the files. "Looks like, as long as you dropped everything off."

"Yeah," he agreed, running his hands down his face. "Duo?"

"Yeah?" I asked, flipping open a folder and starting to scan the first page.

"Do you still like me?"

"That's treading dangerous ground," I retorted.

"You don't hate me?" he asked seriously, frowning at me.

"Why would you even ask that?" I protested, meeting his eyes. "You wouldn't _be_ here if I didn't like you."

"I wasn't just some piece of ass?"

"No," I stated firmly, smiling slightly at him. "I'd have had you and been done if that were _even_ the case."

"Then why is this the first time we've been alone since Marlea turned sixteen?"

I blinked at that, realizing there was no one else in the room.

"You…you…weren't just going to chase me off, were you?" he pressed. "You sounded just like _them_…"

"Considering that you're only _barely_ legal, I want you to know that this _them_ you refer to will probably end up dead in a ditch if I find out who and where."

That made him look down.

"My wife chooses to tail after you instead of stopping and talking to me," I reminded him with a grin. "Trowa makes sure you're included in every plan we make if Heero hasn't suggested it, and if Quatre thinks we're neglecting you with our thoughts he reminds us all of you…that wouldn't _happen_ if I'd just planned to brush you off. I told you then, I would never have just stopped paying attention to you, and I'm telling you now that I wouldn't have grabbed you today if I didn't like you."

He nodded slightly.

I patted his knee, meeting his eyes. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I need you to get Heero to sign this," I slid the top file off, "and then get Trowa to sign _this_…and tell him to _call_ me in fifteen minutes and that if he doesn't I'm going to hunt him down and use his hide as a blanket when I go to bed tonight."

Som grinned at that, sliding off the table…and I gave him my second set of instructions.

- -

"I think so, yeah," I muttered, flipping through a magazine. It had an article in it about how France'd entertained the Brazilian ambassador, and Alex had told me it was kinda cool.

"So we'll make sure those rooms are cleaned then…"

"That'd be wonderful," I muttered. "I know that the Queen would be upset if we didn't."

"Right, I'm on it," she noted…and hung up.

Not that I could remember what her name was…

I found the article due to a wavy pink line inked along the margin with little hearts, stars, and daisies.

How was it that this got my attention faster than a phone?

"Yeah?" I asked, hitting the flashing button.

"You seen Ryu?" Wufei asked with a frown. "Ramon was just bitching about him taking off."

"No, I haven't," I returned, frowning slightly. "Did Ramon explain?"

"No," he frowned more. "I thought something'd happened and he went to find you. What do you think? Bother or excuse?"

"Let's wait until we see what he's up to before we do either," I suggested.

"I guess," he muttered, then shook his head. "How goes the planning?"

"I've gotten as far as cleaning out the royal rooms."

"But that's not invitations," he reminded me.

"Yeah, for some reason this flashing red light interrupted me."

He laughed and hung up.

I hit the disconnect and looked back to the article as I trailed my fingers over the line.

I was damn lucky.

"Trowa!"

I looked up as Som darted into the room and closed the door behind himself with a click, leaning against it as he stared at me.

"Your ears burning?" I teased, noticing Duo's binder. "What's up?"

"You're supposed to sign this," he explained, setting a file from the binder on the desk. "And Duo said if you don't call him in fifteen minutes he's going to skin you and use your hide as a blanket."

I grinned at that.

He sat down across from me, wiping at his lips. I could smell orange on him, and wondered if it was bad that it made me think of Quatre.

"What's up? Why'd you call me like that?"

He shifted slightly where he sat, looking down and shaking his head.

"Come on," I suggested. "You'll tell me anyway, and if I can do something about it now…"

"It's just…Quatre," he returned, meeting my eyes briefly. "I think he's following me."

"Quatre?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow at him. "Sure, he's been acting weird, but if we get him laid he'll probably be fine."

That got a grin.

"What'd he do?"

"He keeps feeding me orange," the kid explained, looking away.

"Aren't you into older guys?" I demanded.

He gave me a look.

I smirked, shifting back in my seat as I looked to the clock. "So why do you think he's following you?"

"Every day he finds me in some hall," he explained. "He's always got an orange and always feeds me pieces of it…he found me earlier when I was supposed to be quick for Duo, so he let me go, but just now," he gestured down the hall, "he backed me against a wall and was asking me why Duo'd grabbed me and stuff…asked if we'd be alone any time soon and stuff…he's kinda freaking me out."

"I'm not saying that Quatre's not out of line," I muttered seriously, "but can't you deal with this? Ask him to stop? Ask him why he's doing it? Chances are he doesn't even _realize_ he's doing it. My brethren are special."

He looked down. "I ask and…and things get out of hand." This was accompanied by a glance to my eyes.

"No," I started to protest, sitting up.

"Yeah!" he protested in that abrupt and somewhat loud way he had that meant honesty. "Always! It starts out with trying to explain and…like…with Quatre," he sat up to explain better, "he'd touch my lips and then he'd kiss me and I'd start to pull away and remind him that's not appropriate…and it goes down hill."

"You're easy," I noted, considering that.

He gave me a look.

I grinned and shook my head as I considered that logic. The sad thing was I could _see_ it.

"It works," I conceded, "until you hit one very key factor. You know what it is?"

"Quatre's a good guy?" he asked somewhat hesitantly.

"More like straight," I corrected. "And if he _did_ start kissing on you we'd all be very confused."

"Straight guys don't usually _feed_ guys bits of fruit."

"Now we rewind to the fact that my brethren are special," I noted, grinning more.

He shrugged, looking down, then hopped up.

"What?"

"I have like…fifty things to do!" he exclaimed, then turned to start for the door and stopped, turning to frown at me. "Can you talk to him for me?"

"I'll mention it to him," I agreed.

He nodded, thinking about that, then darted out of the room.

So…Quatre was starting to play at "Robert" again…he had been acting weird for a while, really. His game of conniving bastard with Duo seemed more that he was letting Duo do the conniving for him…not that Quatre really did any of his _own_ conniving anyway.

But if Som was asking me to help, it wasn't like I'd refuse. The boy had a naive streak in him that you wouldn't imagine, because he also had an equally _learned_ streak to counter it. He was capable of keeping up with _Nira_ in dirty jokes or suggestive comments, but if you approached him just right, he'd blush just like Alex.

So what was Quatre _doing_? _Why_ was Quatre doing it?

And what the _hell_ was with the oranges?

- -

"Yo, I have your dog," Duo muttered.

"What?" I asked blankly.

"I have your dog," Duo repeated. "I needed Som and…"

"Needed him, huh?" I asked, grinning slightly as I dug into my desk for a pen. "What for?"

"You know I don't actually find that funny, right?" he demanded in a tone that suggested the words had annoyed him and he'd get over it.

"Sorry," I muttered, blinking at a blue glitter pen. I knew it was a glitter pen because it had the word "glitter" emblazoned down half of it.

Yeah…I'd bought a pack of those for Marlea once…why did I have one?

I rolled my eyes and scribbled out my to-do list.

"Chang?" Ryu moved into my office almost nervously.

"Yeah?"

"Sir Maxwell wanted you to sign this," he explained, setting a file in front of me and saluting.

"At ease, kid," I returned, reading down the first page.

He settled where he was.

"Yeah, _sign_ it," Duo ordered. "And give it back to him."

I signed the document, then stared at the glittered ink in disbelief…_that_ was talent.

"Come on, I need him to do sixty more things than just finding you jackasses."

"Sorry," I returned, capping the pen and passing the folder back to Som. "Stick with Maxwell."

"I have watch duty tonight, sir," he muttered, hesitating.

"What?"

"Sergeant Ramon put me on watch duty first shift," Som explained. "I have to be back by nineteen-hundred hours."

"Nineteen-hundred?" I demanded, sitting down again to blink at him. "That's…"

"Everyone gets watch duty, sir," he noted.

"Everyone but you," I grumped, then sighed. "I can't show you _that_ much favoritism, though."

"What's up?" Duo asked.

"He's gotta be back by seven," I explained into my phone.

"I'm not gonna be done by seven," Duo protested.

"But he hasn't had watch yet and I can't just…let him skip it," I reminded him. "Come on, we take him out of the shit more than enough to make everyone jealous…and _you_ know the other half."

Duo sighed.

"Just try to get the running part of it done," I suggested, passing Ryu the folder. "We can get a different recruit on you so he can tell horror stories of this so-called preferential treatment, huh? So don't get _all_ the running done…and be an ass. I know that's hard for you and all…"

Duo snorted.

Som grinned at me from the door and waved slightly before darting away.

"He _knows_ the castle," Duo reminded me. "He knows where all the _offices_ are."

"So I'll get you a pretty little boy of non-Asian descent so you don't get distracted, huh?"

"Wufei, please," he muttered with a tired sigh. "I'm trying to pretend I _didn't_ cheat on my wife and reminding me that I did makes it kinda complicated."

I snorted at that.

"Just get someone smart, huh?" Duo added irritably. "I can't be asked fifty questions when I say to go to an office. I want someone who's not going to get completely lost."

"Why the hell doesn't Heero have people running around like this?"

"He _does_…he _has_ runners…_court_ runners that don't _intrude_ on us. I don't _have_ runners that I know, and dealing with the party and shit for the birth gives me that much _more_ to build on."

"Are you all right?" I asked quietly.

"All right," he guffawed. "Fuck…"

…and he hung up.

I snorted, closing the phone and thinking about it. I needed to go pick through my recruits.

- -

E/N: hehehe, thanks, Race! I could answer your questions, but that would be telling, so...hehe, yeah. Catch y'all around.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

The recruit had hollered uncle.

I grinned as I bounced through the palace halls.

When the guy who'd replaced me for my watch shift had been told that he'd take my place at seven for a few nights he'd _begged_ Sergeant Ramon and Chang to let him stand guard instead of me. I'd argued that being a runner was boring and that it was _easier_ to stand watch, but he'd recounted to me getting lost three times trying to find central from a back hall.

He'd lost his sense of direction, and that was all there was to it.

Ramon had finally given into the pleading, because Wufei hadn't said a word and just watched the sergeant think. I had to admit that running around for Duo was a lot more fun than reading that damn manual…that I still had to get memorized.

Shit.

I darted into an office of some random official and grinned at the guy working the desk as I gave him the last file Duo'd entrusted to me and started back for the hall. He wanted me to hit up central again for another folder, and then I'd get another break.

I turned to dart for the main reception area…and nearly ran into Quatre.

"Crap!" I stumbled back several steps as he did as well. "Sorry, sir," I added, saluting him.

He didn't have an orange, that was good, right?

"Come with me," Quatre suggested, grinning slightly.

"I have some files to take up to Maxwell," I argued with a frown.

He gave me a very level look, then nodded. "Take those files to Maxwell and come to my office. That's an order."

"I'm working for Duo," I protested.

"Som, I didn't ask," he noted pointedly, then turned and started away.

I frowned at him in irritation, then turned and took off up the hall.

"What's up?" Duo asked a few minutes later when I passed him the file.

"I ran into Quatre and he wants to see me in his office."

"Oh, all right," he gestured at me dismissively.

"But…"

He met my eyes, looking startled.

"Sorry, sir," I apologized, backing away.

"Take your lunch when you're done with whatever he wants," he suggested. "I'll be eating with Heero."

"Okay," I muttered, hesitating again, then turned to leave.

It was kinda amusing that I knew I could get to Quatre's office in a matter of minutes from the council room Duo was using, but it still took me five minutes to even hit the stairs leading up to it.

This didn't seem to bode well to me for some reason.

I moved into Quatre's office hesitantly, closing the door behind myself.

He had obviously just finished peeling an orange by his trash can.

"Have a seat," he suggested, indicating a chair in front of his desk…as he ate a slice.

I moved to sit there, and he moved up behind me, studying my face seriously.

"What do you need?" I asked, feeling an almost heavy resignation starting in my stomach.

He leaned against the desk beside me, considering me a few moments before eating another bit of orange. "Trowa talked to me last night."

I looked away.

"Seems to think that I make you nervous for some reason."

"My experience with older men tracking me down in deserted halls kinda…"

"All our halls are monitored, you realize?"

I blinked up at him.

He smirked at me…and it was like someone who'd won.

That annoyed me.

"Here," he muttered, sliding the orange wedge into my mouth.

I took that and licked my lips, then leaned forward quickly to lick the juice off his thumb…and then sucked it very slowly off his index finger, meeting his eyes the entire time.

His chewing slowed, and he blinked at me, obviously thinking about that.

I grinned slightly, shifting forward in my seat and reaching for his pants.

"Ah…" he backed off rather quickly, but not actually far enough that I had to move or let go. "Hey…"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" I demanded, glaring at him. "Funny thing, the meaning of my _name_ is orange…bet I could hit that craving."

His eyes widened and he tried to back away more, coming up short when I'd looped my fingers into his belt-buckle.

"I don't know what the fuck you're playing at," I added irritably, letting him go…but now he had me curious. I raised my left foot to set against his desk as I settled back and hooked my right knee over the arm, pouting up at him.

He…was still staring at me.

…he had an off button.

"Shit," he muttered, shaking his head hard as he moved back around his desk and pretended I wasn't there. "You're kidding, right?"

"Sure I am," I agreed, looking to the ceiling. "I keep trying, but that's all I can come up with."

"Don't sit like that," he snapped irritably.

I sat up again, narrowing my eyes at him.

He shook his head hard again and wiped at his hands with a napkin. "Sonan Ryu is friends with Jun Martin."

"What?" I demanded, my breath all but catching.

Boy was _that_ ever not what I was thinking.

"Sonan Ryu is friends with Jun Martin," he persisted, wiping hard at his fingers again as me met my eyes. "Jun Martin kicked his ass for some reason we haven't fathomed yet."

"You've been watching my dad?" I asked, my stomach twisting like there was a knife in it.

Jun had hired me to create a scandal around Duo Maxwell and kill him. He'd done it all _through_ my father.

"No, we haven't," he snapped. "We're watching Jun, because we crushed Swathe once and we're more than willing to do it again—incidentally, that's what you're being trained for. We're going to have to let the various leaders of the various syndicates out over the next couple years and we've had time to train a full force, and your generation…" he focused on his hand, wiping at it with his other hand.

I sniggered slightly at that.

He glowered on me.

"Oh, come on, you don't think _wiping_ it will make that go away, do you? Really?"

He gave me another look…but was still rubbing.

"You're going to hurt your hand," I informed him, leaning forward against the desk. "Just go wash them somewhere."

"Sick ass…"

"Since feeding me oranges isn't even _remotely_ sensual, huh?"

He blinked at that, and there was a sort of comprehension in his expression that reassured me I'd had nothing to worry about.

He was special, Trowa was right.

"Why did you actually want me here?" I demanded, reaching over and picking up his discarded orange.

"Your father pissed Jun off," he snapped, focusing on me…as I very carefully sucked down an wedge. "Oh…_god_…don't," he muttered, looking away.

I laughed wickedly, sitting back again.

"You're such an ass."

"You were chasing me down in the _halls_," I protested at him. "You kept _feeding_ me oranges…and what did you expect? I'm _used_ to my superiors gaining my full and complete attention."

He focused on me, frowning very slightly. "This happened before? You mean with Duo?"

"No," I tsked at that in irritation. "The shit with Duo…he said he never meant to, never planned to…but he and Nira were fighting, remember? He said he was supposed to sleep at your place that night…but I had time off and I'd heard about that chapel…what'd Heero call it? Heaven's chapel?" I sucked down another slice.

"Som!" Quatre snapped.

I laughed delightedly, sitting up…and licking my lips.

He _threw_ a paper weight at me.

I almost giggled, catching the thing and studying it before offering it again.

"So there wasn't anything more to that night?" Quatre mused, taking the weight back from me. "Like…seriously. He hadn't been eyeing you and shit?"

"You're doing enough of that for everyone," I retorted.

He gave me a look.

"Seriously," I protested. "Wufei and I flirt with each other but I can tell he's not planning to pursue it…Duo freaks out if we're alone for more than five minutes," I very slowly nibbled a piece down.

Quatre started laughing weakly, looking toward the desk.

I sniggered, grinning at him. "Heero…he's the king, I dunno, that's never actually crossed my mind…and Trowa's like…like a dad to me," that was a sobering reality.

"That's why you talked to him?" the blond asked, meeting my eyes again. "Was I really that bad?"

"I got the very distinct impression you wanted to molest me," I agreed, raising my eyebrows at him.

He sniggered almost wickedly himself.

"Jacob is just kinda fun," I noted, studying the orange seriously. "I dunno, but you kept showing up with that look on your face…"

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I've…I just have been trying to figure out what you knew about your father."

I snorted, looking away.

"And why you were trained."

I raised my eyes to his, my heart starting to pound.

"Why were you trained?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I noted, staring directly back at him.

"I'm sure you don't, that's why you were able to _down **Duo**_ with your arms tied with a belt."

I blinked at that, wondering if _everyone_ knew that.

"That's why you can disappear like a fucking ninja…and that's why you can make _Duo_ jump."

I laughed a bit evilly at that. "I don't think his jumping has much to do with…."

"You startle him," Quatre cut me off. "You half ass the training all the time. Wufei thinks it's funny, because when you get pissed," he indicated where he'd stood beside me, "you make your point. You remember that game of chess with my niece?"

…oops.

I frowned at him.

"You're not going to tell me when you've done fucked my best friend already?"

I frowned even more at that.

"I'm watching you," he noted pointedly. "I've been watching you. You go into town and you call both your parents…you might want to talk to Suri," he added, considering it. "She's been awfully upset with you."

My stomach _sank_…I felt almost dizzy.

He was watching my family…he knew my sister's _name_.

He knew my sister was _upset_ with me…

"I took the liberty of buying Suri more minutes for her cell in your name, I hope you don't mind," he shifted back where he was. "I know your mother has her rent due…I can pay it all, including the back rent, for her…if you'd like."

"What does my mother have to do with anything?" I demanded.

"You come to me when you need help," he suggested. "When you're scared, knock on _my_ door."

I opened my mouth.

"I believe you're on lunch now," he noted, looking to his watch. "Heero was saying Duo was coming up for lunch this morning…so you should go find food."

I rose to my feet, frowning slightly at him. "Where's…Trowa?"

"In his office, I imagine," he returned, moving one hand to his mouth before he smirked at me slightly.

I smirked back, and started to suck on an orange slice.

He looked away.

I laughed evilly, hesitating in the door as I finished the bit off, then licked my fingers.

"Som!" he muttered pointedly.

I laughed wickedly, meeting his eyes as I pulled the door closed behind me.

Aside from now being utterly terrified about what I'd gotten myself into, that had been pretty funny. Maybe fucking around with him would make him less suspicious about me…but he'd straight out told me how I'd fucked up.

I went to find Trowa.

- -

I grinned as I offered an orange to Quatre and he shook his head at me.

"Really?" I asked, blinking. He'd been eating them fairly consistently for a week or two.

"I don't seem to have the craving anymore," he noted dryly.

Som sniggered.

"Just because _you_ don't like pain doesn't mean we all don't," he informed the kid pointedly. "I also happen to have a sadistic friend who wouldn't mind being watched."

Som frowned.

"What?" I asked him blankly.

"You wanna play?" Jacob asked curiously, moving into Som's view. "Me'n you?"

"Uh…no," Som replied, blinking at him.

"The bit Quatre didn't point out," I noted, starting to peel the thing, "is that he likes to watch."

Jacob laughed wickedly.

"Where is everyone?" I added, looking around. "I think Relena's sleeping and Ro's got baby duty, but Hilde and Trowa should be coming up with the girls."

"For some reason dad got all mad at me when I knocked on their door," Alex noted as she moved into the room. Her expression was a mock of innocence. "Snapped at me to take Mikhail and Dusty up." She set the car-seat on the couch next to Som. "Lea took Dusty to get Faye. Mom says she's not cooking tomorrow night."

"She's the one who offers," I protested sweetly.

She laughed, then sighed and moved around to sit beyond the car-seat.

"You want an orange, baby?"

"Sure," Wufei, Som, and Alex said at the same time.

I blinked at that.

Wufei grinned innocently enough that we knew he'd done his on purpose…and seeing as I'd been talking to Alex, her response made sense…but Som was blushing again.

Lex giggled, bouncing around the couch with one of those passing touches to Som's head that Relena and Hilde always did—come to think of it, all our girls did that, even Faye and Ash.

"Here," I muttered with a grin, passing the thing I'd already peeled to her.

"Thanks," she muttered, turning to pick happily at it as she moved back toward the couch.

Som blinked as I threw an orange high over his head to Wufei, who happily started picking at the skin. I gestured for the boy to come to me with my finger, and he flashed me a brief naughty grin and bounced up as I cut a seam to peel from and made quick work of half the skin.

"You're always so fast at taking things off," he muttered.

I choked on that, looking up to him in disbelief.

He almost giggled, taking the orange from me innocently and…bouncing much like Alex had back to the couch.

My stomach churned as it occurred to me that he was only about two years older than her.

"Shit, Som," Quatre muttered, starting to rub at his face as the recruit laughed wickedly.

"I dunno, I found it entertaining," Wufei noted.

"What?" I asked blankly, moving with my half-peeled orange to join them in the living room, checking briefly on Mikhail…who was sleeping.

"Watch," Som ordered…and did something to the orange-slice that I was sure should be considered indecent.

…and Alex was blushing hard, looking away with a hand to her face.

I laughed wickedly, studying the girl. "You'll never look at oranges the same way again, will you?"

"You're _sick_!" she protested at the boy.

"I'm sorry!" he protested, probably realizing himself that our girls were actually naïve. "I didn't mean to embarrass you!"

She made a noise, refusing to look at him.

…Quatre, however, had caught my attention. He was rubbing one hand hard against his pant leg, like it had something dirty on it.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

He stopped, looking up to me…and stopped doing it quickly. "Nothing."

- -

I wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but Quatre was muttering darkly to himself as he speared things with his fork with a lot more force than anyone would find necessary. When I'd come into Duo's apartment, Alex had instantly moved to cling to my arm and wouldn't look at Som, who looked embarrassed. Wufei would do things when I wasn't looking that'd make him, Jacob, and Duo laugh evilly…and that was all I'd gathered before my wife had come in with food.

"So, Hilde," Duo muttered suddenly, looking across to her. "Your daughter seemed confused when she came up earlier…something about your husband snapping at her."

Hilde half choked on her food as she started giggling.

Oh god, they hadn't…

I looked to Alex.

"…because he's so damn _hot_…" Quatre was muttering irritably into the new quiet. He'd fairly obviously been muttering under our conversation and not listening to it.

We all stopped and looked at him…as he stopped and looked at us.

Som was choking hard.

"What?" Heero demanded.

Relena was watching the blond with very wide eyes.

"Uh…" Quatre blinked.

"Ha!" Duo retorted. "Haha_**ha**_!"

Heero started choking.

"What?" Alex asked blankly.

Som started laughing, sliding down in his chair.

"Quatre, why do you keep rubbing at your hand?" Wufei asked him in Cantonese.

"Because," he returned in English.

"Because why?" Wufei persisted seriously.

"Because," Quatre repeated.

Som was laughing even harder, covering his face.

"Som, why were you molesting your orange?" Jacob asked seriously.

The little Thai boy's laughter redoubled as Quatre's cheeks flared red.

"Molesting his orange?" Marlea asked blankly.

Duo started laughing at that.

I looked to Hilde, who was blinking back at me.

"What?" Heero asked blankly.

"I had him come to my office," Quatre said quickly.

Duo started laughing even harder.

"_No_!" Quatre protested at the guy almost too quickly. "Not because of _that_!"

…


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

"It's just…"

"I hope you loved your sister," Jun Martin snapped. "You'll never see her again."

"Wait!" Som protested, sounding extremely stressed. "No! It's just…"

"_Now_, Som," Jun ordered in a growl. "I'm done waiting."

"But…"

The vid disconnected.

Som hesitated a moment in torn indecision, then choked on a harsh breath before turning and _running_ up the hall.

The man Quatre'd set to watching the boy opened his phone and hit the auto-dial. "Winner?"

"Yeah?" Quatre asked blankly.

"He's on the move."

"What?"

"Blue-boy," the guy snapped.

"Now?"

"Yes," the guy snapped, moving to follow.

- -

A sort of horror floated through my system as I started to run for the royal apartments.

Duo was alone in his apartment…

"Yo?" Reiko muttered.

"What agents are on L-2?" I demanded.

"Poe and her crew."

"Send them to the…to the Shiaben residence! Get the girl and mother _now_!"

"Yes, sir," he said in that crisp tone that meant I'd ruffled his decided cool.

"Their lives _depend_ on this, Reiko!"

"Right."

I navigated my phone menus to send a mass text to all of our group, glad I'd thought to set it up for it as I went.

The vid room was a helluva lot closer to the apartment than me climbing out of my car.

The kids were all in school…the little ones at a workshop. Alex and Marlea would be fine with Tad…

I slammed up onto stairs.

I had no idea if Som could _kill_ Duo…or Heero…I had no idea if he…

Oh, god…Relena.

- -

I looked up as my apartment door slammed open and blinked at Som…who had tears in his eyes and a gun pointed at my chest.

So much for lunch?

The weapon clicked.

I didn't move, a sort of disbelief settling over me.

Had I done this? Was this my fault? He'd known I'd used him…

He moved more toward me, watching me in disbelief. It was the kind of thing that was probably really stupid, because as soon as he got into arm's range I'd disarm him. Didn't he realize that?

The news was going to tear this to shreds…

Poor Selena…and my _children_…

My phone started beeping and he stopped.

I pulled the phone out, blinking several times as I raised it slowly and hit the button to open the message.

Meet at Duo's?

I raised my eyes to Som's as his hand started to shake.

"They're coming," I said quietly, staring him in the eyes. "You don't have much time."

I saw his trigger finger moving.

Would it hurt? What was he aiming at?

Was this really happening?

I heard Heero's apartment door slamming open and jumped hard at the sound of the gun firing…and heard shattering glass.

I stared at the far window in disbelief as Som dived into my arms, burying his face in my chest…as he choked out a strangled cry.

That…had been the window, right?

"What the _fuck_!" Heero dived into the room with his gun in hand, and before anything else could register, I was turning and diving sideways with Som in my arms.

Another shot…more glass.

Damn, Selena was going to be _pissed_…

"Duo!" Quatre's voice was scared…and then I heard a struggle, curling around the boy as best I could at the sound of the soldiers.

Shouted orders…Trowa demanding what was going on…Quatre shouting for me…

Som was going to kill me.

I pulled away from the boy to meet his eyes.

"Duo!"

"I'm all right!" I said quickly, turning to look at he and Heero as Heero dived down beside me, looking for a wound. "I'm fine," I said quickly…

"What's going _on_?!" Heero shouted over the noise.

"Why were there gunshots?" Wufei demanded, appearing behind Quatre. "Som!"

"My sister!" Som returned, raising his head to look at Quatre. "My mom!"

"Som!" Trowa dived around to grab the boy up…and saw the weapon.

"He wants me to kill you," Som informed me, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I can't do it, Duo…I…"

Jacob spilled into the room, his eyes huge as he looked us all over.

"Oh god, the kids!" I shouted, turning and diving for my vid.

"He won't know!" Som protested.

"_Get to the schools now!_" I snapped at the leading officer who was staring at me. "_Get my wife! **Now!**_"

"Sir!"

I hit the button to dial Alex.

"Hey, tio…"

"Get in doors, lock-down," I ordered her crisply.

"What?" she asked, suddenly sounding scared.

Yeah, I didn't call her for our games of keep-away.

"_**Now!**_" I shouted. "_Move_! Tell Tad its zero-zero-two!"

"Zero-zero-two?" Alex asked blankly.

I heard Tad hiss a curse, and Alex squealed.

I swallowed, realizing that Som had actually _taken_ a shot and turning on him.

"I'm sorry…"

He was on his knees and we were all staring at him.

"I'm so sorry…"

I moved the few steps to him and yanked him up by the collar of his shirt, slamming him against the wall. "Who?"

"Jun," he returned, not fighting me in the slightest. "It was Jun."

"Why?"

"He hates you," Som replied, hissing his breaths through his teeth.

"What was the full extent?" Quatre demanded.

"He…he wanted me to...he said you're always in heat and you liked the pretty little Asians."

…that was fucked up.

"I was supposed to create a scandal," he added. "He didn't think it'd take as long as it did…but I was supposed to press charges and make it public…"

"But you didn't, why?"

He stared back at me.

"Why not?" I demanded. "You hate me so bad to kill me?"

"No!" he returned, raising his hands to grab my wrist. "Duo…"

"Just like all the others?" I persisted, shoving at him. "That's what you said…I was just like all the others…"

"He threatened my sister," he protested, more tears falling down his cheeks. "When I was taking too long, he told me that if I didn't do it, she'd be dead."

I turned my head slightly.

"I'm expecting Poe to call any second now," Quatre noted.

"What?" Som asked.

"I told you I'd been watching you," Quatre noted darkly. "I saw you scared, but you mistook my intent."

"Help," he noted, his eyes widening slightly. "You…you…"

"Tomé's idea was to create as scandal by getting some pretty little girl intern set up with Duo," Quatre informed the others. "We all had a good laugh about that because we all _know_ that Duo wouldn't cheat on Selena with another _girl_. A boy, though…a pretty little Asian…"

Som looked away.

"So he shows up, makes us all believe he couldn't join if he got sent away…and he was probably right…sits around in Duo's office…you were trying."

"I did at first," he admitted, "but then…"

I looked back to him in disbelief. "I let you by my _children_. You _saw_ my son when he wasn't even an _hour_ old…"

"Did you hear me mentioning that I have his mom and sister?" Quatre asked sweetly. "Shit, Duo, I heard the shots. He was trained just like us, you think he'd miss at that close of range?"

"One was mine," Heero noted. "Duo dived with him."

"What?" Wufei demanded.

"I couldn't do it," Som breathed, staring into my face. "I couldn't do it…"

"But you shot," I reminded him.

He laughed very slightly, dropping his head back…the shot was at the top of the window, and the other would have been Heero's because it was low in the other corner.

"Uncle?" Alex asked in a scared voice.

"Just stay with Tad, baby," Trowa said quickly, moving to the vid.

"I can't hear you very good," she noted.

"You don't need to," Trowa returned. "Just wait for the team to get there."

"All right."

My cell started ringing.

I let Som go, and he slid down the wall, curling up slightly against it. "Yeah?"

"We've got the kids," a man explained. "We're loading them into the SUVs."

"Get them here," I ordered, hanging up. I popped my neck as my phone started ringing again. "Yeah?"

"What's going on?" Selena demanded. "What's happening?"

"There was an attempt on my life," I noted dryly.

Som curled up even more.

"_What_?" Selena nearly shrieked.

"Just go with the team," I retorted. "The sooner you get here, the better."

"Duo, what's happening?"

Quatre's phone started ringing.

"Can you just wait until you get here?" I snapped pointedly.

"Fine," she agreed, hanging up.

"The girl?" Quatre demanded.

Som's eyes went wide.

"Don't _hurt_ her," he retorted. "She doesn't understand what's happening. As far as they know, Som's just killed Duo…oh don't take that tone with _me_," he added in annoyance. "Tell them that Duo and Som are both fine."

I settled back, looking down at the guy. My shoulders were tense. I shook my head slightly again.

"Duo?" Heero asked quietly, moving forward.

I shook my head again.

"Hey," Heero's hands rested on my shoulders. "You need to relax…"

"It _is_ a twitch, isn't it?" Trowa muttered.

"A tic, anyway," Heero agreed.

"_What_?" I demanded, turning on him.

"When you're stressed you have a tic," Heero retorted. "I've been watching it get worse for a year now."

I blinked at him and shook my head again.

He grinned slightly at me.

"I was going to tell you," Som informed Trowa in a small voice.

"I figured as soon as I realized what was going on," Trowa reassured him, moving forward to rest a hand on my shoulder. "Jun knows your vices. He just didn't realize you'd actually be _loyal_ to Nira."

"Some loyalty," I retorted, shaking my head again, then running my hands along my neck and shoulders.

"Daddy? I hear something…"

We all focused on the vid.

Screams…gunshots.

"I swear on my life," Tad's voice came.

"Tad?" Alex demanded.

"I swear to you," Tad added.

"Wait! Tad!" Marlea shouted.

"Tad? Tad?" I moved to the vid. "Don't go out!"

"Duo said don't go!" Alex started squeaking.

More gunshots.

"No! Tad!"

"Stay here, stay quiet," Tad snapped back…we all heard a click.

"He left," Alex squeaked.

"We're on our way," I noted, then pointed at Som. "I swear if you're not here when I get back I will _hunt_ you down!"

He nodded.

"I'm calling on my cell," Trowa snapped…and disconnected the vid.

"Keep Relena and Tasia guarded," Heero snarled at the guard near the door. "Keep Ryu in Maxwell's apartment."

"Sir!" the two men agreed.

We ran.

- -

Marlea and I were sitting in an inner corner of the room, waiting as the shouting outside continued. I could hear my dad ordering people in the background…or one of my uncles…but other than that, we knew nothing.

"No!" Tad was shouting in a choked voice.

I started to rise.

"No," Marlea returned, covering her mouth with her hand.

"He swore to us," I protested, grabbing her arm. "We can't just…"

"Just what?" she returned, tears in her eyes. "What can we do? You hear the gunshots, we aren't armed."

"But there's got to be something…"

The door to the room we were in slammed open and Tad stumbled backwards.

"Tad!" I squeaked, diving for him…

My ears _rang_ at the sound of the gunshot, and absolute horror washed over me as I saw the blood rising from my bodyguard's stomach.

"Stupid ass," someone was muttering in aggravation, turning to look at us.

"That's them," a blond guy noted, looking us over. "Cuties, huh?"

"Let's go, honey," the man who'd just shot Tad ordered, extending a hand to me.

We stood frozen in horror.

"We don't have all day, little girl," the man noted.

"Alex," Marlea whispered, her eyes flashing to our way out—beside the blond was just enough room for us to run.

"I swear..." Tad whispered…and gagged.

"Tad…" I protested.

His eyes were on mine and he looked to the door pointedly.

Time to run.

I swallowed as we moved closer to the men, who expected no less from couple of sixteen year old girls…

We ran.

- -

E/N: Hehe, thanks Caraniel...and it's early February at this point, so yeah, hehe.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

This had to be a nightmare.

"I have to…to…" Tad was trying to get up, to sit up… "I have to…"

"You're going to die if you don't sit still," Trowa snapped.

"Tie him down," I ordered coldly. "Make sure he lives."

"Majesty…" Tad started, his eyes on mine.

"You swore yourself to the girls," I snapped back. "You die and you'll fail them. Are you failing them now?"

The man's eyes filled with tears.

"My nieces will be _upset_ if you die on them," I added harshly at the man. "We'll bring them to see you."

He stopped struggling, thinking about that.

"You better fucking _live_," I insisted as…the doors closed and the ambulance took off.

"He has some tact," I muttered, watching as Duo flinched again. "They didn't kill anyone."

"It's a bunch of high schoolers," Wufei replied.

"What do we do?" I asked, since my mind had blanked about as soon as I realized that the girls' bodyguard was laying in a pool of his own blood.

They had my nieces.

_Jun_ had my nieces.

Thank god the women weren't _pregnant_ anymore…

"I can't stop it," Duo snarled at us, leaning against the side of his car as he flinched again.

I moved to him, offering the tranq package.

He twitched harder, moving away from me slightly. "I'm not…"

"I can't think," Quatre was breathing. "I can't…I can't think…"

"He has my daughter…what are we doing?" Trowa agreed, moving forward. "We have to attack, we have to…"

Duo's phone started ringing.

"Maxwell," Duo muttered.

"Hello, kitty-cat," we heard a male voice purr. "Did you miss me?"

"Jun?" Duo demanded sharply.

"Why yes, Mr. Tailor, this is Mr. Martin…I was most distressed to hear that you'd had to scramble your forces."

"Funny, that," Duo returned—he was standing perfectly still. "No one but us know."

"Oh, shit," Jun considered it. "So you know I have those two teens?"

"And how," Duo agreed darkly.

"Damn, that ruins my dramatic," Jun sighed. "I hope you understand, the boy was _supposed_ to have killed you already."

"I hope you understand that a willing night with me means you're mine."

I choked on that one.

"What?" Jun demanded.

"Oh, you didn't know? I've had Som," Duo laughed coldly. "I think he died and was reborn again."

That was just…beyond…messed…up…

"He didn't press charges?"

"Yeah," Duo agreed, "I was startled myself, but then again…"

"Stop it," I snapped at him.

He met my eyes, then took a long slow breath. "What are we doing? Why do you have the girls?"

"To ensure your good behavior," he explained happily.

"If you want me, I'll come," Duo informed him.

…my heart sank.

"I'm more inclined to have the money you and the king stole from me," Jun noted. "And then we can discuss the small matter of getting them back to you from my chosen residence. I am, of course, off probation."

"Of course," Duo agreed darkly.

I covered my mouth with my hand.

"I'm glad we understand each other," Jun noted. "You're being so helpful I'm willing to keep the girls in Sanq tonight, huh?"

"Yeah," Duo agreed coldly.

Wufei came back up to us and sank into a squatting position beside Duo's legs, leaning against him.

"Maybe Chang," Jun mused.

Was he watching us, or was he thought processing?

"No, not Chang," Duo snapped back. "You can have me, or you can have your damn money."

"Ooh, ultimatums, Mr. Maxwell?" he asked sweetly…and hung up.

I could tell it was only the fact that Wufei was at his fee that he didn't start to attack the car.

"He wants me? I'll go," Wufei muttered, rising up to stare into Duo's eyes. "For the girls…"

Duo shoved him off and turned, slamming his fist against a car window…my…car window.

It shattered.

"Damn it," I snapped, moving forward instantly to grab his arm.

"Oh, great time to worry about…" Duo started snarling at me, then trailed off as he noticed I was picking the small bits of glass from his palm.

"Don't do that shit right now," I snapped up at him. "You can destroy property _after_ we have the girls…"

"He's got my daughter," Trowa hissed, half collapsing to sit beside Wufei's feet.

I looked back at Quatre, who was leaning against Duo's car.

We'd saved the world once…and we were all standing here bargaining with a _syndicate_ leader?

This was fucked up.

- - 

"Good afternoon, ladies," Jun muttered as Alex and I moved into a semi-nice room of a semi-nice house…with a lot of guys and weapons.

"Oh, this won't due at all," he added grumpily, looking both our legs over. "I plan no harm for the innocent." He ran a hand across Alex's face almost affectionately, then turned to look over the men in the room. "You," he snapped at one of them. "Give those pants to the blond."

The man blinked at him, then stripped out of his pants, looking between us before moving forward and offering the jeans to me.

"You're very attractive young ladies, and I won't have my men losing their heads because they see flesh," Jun informed me pointedly. "Put the pants on."

Well…that was somewhat promising, wasn't it?

I took the pants and carefully started to slide them on as the man looked very pointedly around us to the other men.

It kinda disturbed me how close a fit the pants _were_.

"You," Jun added, then pointed at Alex.

I swallowed as I pulled the skirt off, holding it uncertainly as I noticed the men around us looking away from Alex changing, then looked back to Jun Martin.

He grinned a bit impudently at me as he grabbed my skirt…and offered it to the soldier who'd given me his pants.

The man snorted and took the thing, walking off…and disappearing.

The pockets were heavy.

I swallowed as I looked back to Jun.

"Now, come along," Jun muttered, indicating that we should both head toward a room to one side. "Unfortunately, your uncle isn't being as entirely cooperative as I'd imagined he would be," Jun explained to us as he shut the door behind us.

We both frowned at him.

"This will be unpleasant," Jun explained, indicating we should sit on the bed as he started to pace in front of us. "I'm a better man than the cat," he added. "I won't resort to rape…but I will have to make you cry."

He was looking at me.

"What?" Alex demanded.

"I'm sorry, but I have to let them know I'm serious."

"You expect us to _cooperate_ with you?" I spat at him.

"Now you sound like Chang," he chided, waving a finger in my face…and slapped me.

…my father had slapped me _once_…_ever_.

I stared at Alex as a deep fear started in my heart.

"Hold your tongue, girl," he muttered pointedly. "Stay here and sit pretty while I go take care of a few things."

…and he walked out.

I swallowed hard, looking to Alex.

"Do we run?" she asked quietly.

"I don't think we should yet," I muttered, touching my cheek where it stung. "We need to see what kind of set up is here…I don't know where we really are."

"Me neither," Alex agreed. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," I muttered, swallowing again. "Come on, let's look out the windows…once we get the lay of the land we can figure out how to get out."

- - 

Marlea was crying…with a gag in her mouth.

I lunged for the vid as anger washed through my system.

"Your girls are very well behaved," Jun noted from where he was holding her _hair_…her beautiful golden hair…

Duo was standing firmly in front of the vid, studying Marlea's streaming eyes.

"I even got them pants," he noted…yanking her to stand…which made her squeak…but she did rise.

The pants were somewhat standard military issue cargo.

"I have no intentions to harm them any further, Mr. Maxwell," Jun noted, setting Lea down in front of the vid. "Unfortunately, I do have to prove to you that they _are_ in danger."

Marlea focused on a knife raised up for the camera to catch, and her eyes went wide.

"No!" Duo snapped, moving forward. "No!"

My daughter cried out as the blade moved down her forearm, and the gag stifled the sound.

"Jun!" I shouted, darting forward…but what good did it do?

My people had lost him…we'd watched him for months and he was just gone…

Marlea was half crying as he pulled the implement away, then looked to us.

'We're coming,' I mouthed at her.

She blinked in response, though she didn't overly focus on me.

Had she seen?

"I'm sorry, baby," Duo was muttering, staring into her face. "I'm so sorry…"

"Yes, it _is_ your fault, isn't it, Mr. Maxwell?"

"What do you _want_?" Heero choked.

"I've already said, Mr. Vanderin," Jun noted. "I won't be so callous as to collect the interest…just what I had before."

"How much _was_ it, Jun?" Heero demanded hoarsely.

"That should be in your records, little king. I'll have my people draw up a good round number and we'll get that to you as soon as we can…aw, the little angel is bleeding," he added, showing us Marela's arm more. "I need to see to the wound, of course, so I'll have to let you go."

"Marlea!" I shouted.

"Daddy…" she responded through the gag…and the vid cut.

"If she can talk through it," Duo muttered, sinking down onto his knees.

"I don't think he's had it on her too long," Trowa replied, though he was shaking hard.

"So, Quatre," Heero muttered, "where are your men and what can they tell us?"

I closed my eyes, passing him my phone.

I'd never once thought I'd lose my daughter. I'd never once considered that she could _actually_ be ransomed…if I hadn't fought tooth and nail against Duo, they'd have had a few more men to protect them. If I hadn't fought Duo tooth and nail, they could have had a bullet proof vehicle in the parking lot for their driver to use for them. They hadn't wanted to stand out so hard against the other students, and I'd never once imagined my daughter could _ever_ be a target.

I'd trusted Duo's judgment once…and it made me sick to think that if I'd have just told my child to give Duo his way…

"Hey," Heero as saying happily into my phone. "Do what you do, and get done what Winner gets done…now."

- - 

I threw myself into Duo's arms as we all stood outside of Trowa's apartment. Trowa was talking to the little ones.

"Oh, Selena…" he whispered.

This wasn't really happening…this couldn't really be happening.

"Where's _Alex_," Dustin was protesting.

I heard Trowa's muttering voice, then turned to look around the hall at Quatre, who was sitting across the door from Trowa's apartment and staring at nothing.

"I don't know how he could tell," Duo whispered, hugging me tightly. "He ordered Som to do it…and Som came in…he actually shot…"

I met his eyes, feeling very tired.

"We only just called the girls for the lock down," he muttered quietly as Dustin half-whimpered. "We heard them get there…"

"It'll be all right," I reassured him, hugging him tightly. "You said he wasn't mistreating the girls, right?"

"That's beside the point," he muttered, pressing his face into my shoulder. "If I'd just _made_ them take the bigger guard…"

"We couldn't have foreseen this," I reminded him.

"Jun wants _me_ dead," he hissed, squeezing me. "Why did he take the girls?"

I squeezed him back, not sure what to say to that.

Ash moved from Trowa's apartment with a very confused expression on her face. Duo instantly picked her up, and I tilted my head as I heard Dean start to fuss.

We all stopped, though, when we heard a sob, and I turned to look at Quatre, who had his face buried in his legs.

Hilde met my eyes with Dean in her arms from the doorway, gesturing at him to me before disappearing with the baby.

I moved to Quatre.

- - 

"If anything happens to my nieces, so help you…" I hissed, holding Som by the hair at the nape of his neck.

Tears spilled down his cheeks, but he didn't even try to resist me.

I threw him at the wall and stormed toward my bedroom.

"We got him," the vid popped on. "Where are you?"

"In here," I called loudly. "I'm in my room."

"He's staying at the western border," Quatre said loudly. "The house is about ten minutes away from an international airport. Why didn't he scramble his line?"

"He may not have the resources yet," Som muttered tiredly from the floor. "My payment came from an account over in Sweden. He was telling me that he had a handful of guys _from_ Swathe in town."

"Why did he tell you that?" Quatre snapped.

"Pillow talk covers all sorts of topics," Som snapped.

That made us both pause.

"What the hell?" Quatre snapped.

"Funny thing, he was all annoyed the next morning, telling me to keep my damn mouth shut."

I picked up my knives and dropped them into a pocket, then grabbed my clip.

"His total force _in_ Sanq is about thirty," Som added quietly.

"Actually, it's more like fifty," Quatre noted. "Would have been more but he killed some of them off."

"His apartment was completely devoid of anything resembling technology," Som added. "He even had a basic vid. I don't know how much stuff they'd have gotten across the border for him, and he was scared that you'd find any money he ordered moved."

I moved back into the living room, snapping the clip into my weapon and aiming out the window with it to make sure the sights were how I remembered them.

"What are you doing?" the teen muttered, sitting up. He hadn't moved that far from the spot against the wall I'd left him after I'd realized he was a hired assassin out for _my_ blood. The only shift of movement he'd made had been that he'd laid down…and then I'd grabbed him, but other than that he hadn't moved from the spot.

He hadn't killed me, though. He'd had a clean shot, and hadn't taken it.

"I'm going to kill Jun," I explained. "He wasn't to return to wonderland, there wasn't enough room at the table."

"Just one?" Quatre asked darkly.

"I'm assuming you have more," I returned, looking back to the screen. "I also might note that I have my knives."

"I didn't think we were planning to get close enough for close range," he noted.

"I'm gonna get all _up_ in Jun's business," I retorted. "I'm gonna crawl in his bed-sheets and remind him why he was scared of me to begin with. Come on, kid," I added to Som. "If you stay here, you're gone."

"No faith in me?" Som asked tiredly, rising to follow me. "I thought I'd never disappointed you yet."

"I lost my faith the day an assassin laid my fiancé low in my own _living_ room," I noted pointedly. "I lost my faith the day my own ring was thrown back in my face…" I stopped, turning on him. "I lost my faith the day my lover pulled his gun on me."

He looked away.

I sniggered. "I suppose I can't really call you a lover, but you get my point."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, let's see how many times you can say it without it changing anything," I made my voice sound happy. "That'll be nice for a change. I got tired of sounding like a broken record."

"I told you a long time ago what was happening."

"It doesn't count if I don't understand," I retorted.

"I'm _sorry_," he protested again, following after me. "I don't understand why he took your nieces…he'd only said my sister and my mom."

"What part of Trowa and Quatre both telling you that you could go to them for help did you miss?" I hissed in his face. "What part of you sitting with my _family_ for supper at night made you think we wouldn't do everything in our power to protect _your_ family?"

He looked down, his eyes pained.

"No faith, huh?" I demanded, stopping to look him in the eyes. "I could have lost everything, but I still kept you here. I could have lost my wife and my children, but I didn't chase you away. My friends could have bawled me out for not sending you off, but they took you into their families…and you couldn't _warn_ me that you'd been hired to kill me and weren't going to do it?"

"I can't change the past," he noted, raising his eyes to mine. "I can't help what I did or didn't do…but I am here now and I'm not fighting you. Don't I get _some_ credit?"

"The only crime you're guilty of is being in the wrong place at the wrong time," I spat back.

"What he means to say is that he's terrified, he's pissed, but he looked down the barrel of your gun and you're _not_ dead yet."

We turned to look at Jacob.

"What he means to tell you is that you _fired_ a shot and he _still_ protected you from Heero's fire. How much credit do you _need_?"

Som stared at him.

I shook my head in the way Heero'd called a tic…and stopped, closing my eyes.

This wasn't going to get any easier.

- - 

"Here, kid," Trowa muttered, tossing a pistol to Som. "That's mine and I want it back."

Som held the firearm with a frown a moment, then looked up to Trowa. "It's mine."

"The moment that round went off in Duo's apartment, it became my property," Trowa returned pointedly. "Get in."

He glanced back at me, then climbed into the transport shuttle.

"So will you answer me _now_?" Quatre asked tiredly, from where he was sitting already on the bench. "Why were you trained?"

"Just an assassin," Som admitted quietly, looking to the floor.

"Shit," Quatre muttered, looking away. "Too many damn assassins."

"What?" Som asked.

"There are _three_ in this vehicle."

That made the kid blink. "Three?"

"Yep," Heero muttered. "That was our former life, though."

"You?" Som didn't seem to connect things too horribly fast.

"I'm the other one," Duo noted.

"We're ready, sir," all our walkies flared briefly to life.

"Move out," Duo returned.

The transport started moving.

"If I'd have told you," Som muttered, looking down at his weapon, "would it have changed anything?"

"Yes," I returned.

He looked away a long moment, then half glanced back to us. "How do we do this? If Jun knows we're coming, won't he hurt them?"

"He knew we were coming the instant he called me," Duo returned tiredly. "He took Wufei once and we destroyed him. He took my girls now, and he signed his own death certificate."

"I didn't think he'd…"

"You were too upset when he ordered you to do it," I cut him off.

"What?" he asked blankly.

"The vid room is recorded," Quatre noted. "You _knew_ that. I got a copy and we all watched you freak out before turning to go to Duo."

"What happened?" Heero muttered. "I came in and you were flying to the floor."

"He couldn't kill me," Duo said in a cold voice.

"Duo," I muttered with a sigh.

"What, Wufei?" he demanded.

"If he wants me, I'll go," I retorted. "You can't say this shit isn't because of me."

"It started because he wanted to fuck you," Heero noted, "but it's only this far because we perpetually bring him up short. You're not even an _object_ to him anymore, Wufei. He only wants you because he knows it'll kill Duo slowly."

"Kill, Duo, slowly?" Duo repeated the final words with a different intonation. "As your Majesty wishes, my Sovereign."

"My Majesty _wishes_ you to not _start_ that again," Heero retorted.

"Yes, Majesty," Duo flashed Heero a grin, fiddling with the bandage from breaking the car window. It circled the lower part of his hand, his wrist, and part of his forearm. The force he'd used had been tremendous, and the shatter-proof glass had left a serious mark on him.

Heero snorted.

…but that said to me that Duo was rooted down again. He could make even the worst of our situations dealable by being as absolutely _obnoxious_ as he could manage…and he was damn good at it.

"So how about I go fish out some Aries and modify the belly enough that it moves like Deathscythe?" he mused aloud. "We could get some damn good parts from the junkyards and trim the outer joints enough to lighten it and help it move."

I laughed at that idea. "We need to get some dolls and infect'em with Zero," I returned. "Have ten dolls each, huh? Get some fuckin' thermals and see if we could compress down the shit enough so we'd _fit_ in the damn things again."

"I always run out of bullets," Trowa mused. "I think I'd go more for lasers."

"I kinda liked Sandrock's general set up," Quatre agreed, "but if I could just…"

"We _aren't_ creating mobile suits," Heero half snarled at us.

We all fell silent, looking away.

Som was staring at us.

"My army has its purpose," Heero informed the boy, "and it's _not_ world conquest."

"We wouldn't use them for conquest," Duo retorted.

"But we'd have them, and we'd train others to use them," Heero snapped back. "We aren't immortal, Duo. We aren't gods. We're men, we're tired men who've seen too much and done too little."

"No," I argued, leaning forward. "We've seen too little and done too much."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

"Please, buckle," Jun muttered to Marlea and I as we slid into the car next to him.

I shifted slightly so Marlea could pull the belt over her shoulder, then snapped my own down as the car doors locked and the vehicle started moving.

"You're such remarkably well behaved young ladies," he mused, studying the two of us. "I was under the definite impression that we'd have to fight you tooth and nail every step of the way."

_A complacent enemy is easier to topple than a wary one._

Some of the stuff Duo'd say to us had bothered me before…his little quips about enemies had always seemed unnecessary to me. It wasn't like I'd _had_ any enemies. Why would some stupid kid need to worry about enemies?

"I'll explain to you now what's happening," the Asian man informed us. "I told your fathers that once they gave me back my money, we could arrange a way to get the two of you home. I'm leaving Sanq, so it's not like I'll be a problem for them, after all. Anyway, I was going to get upset, because I was going to have to hurt you," he indicated me, "but it occurred to me that I hadn't actually told them that they could only do what I told them to. They've loaded up their armies and are moving about, it's rather annoying…but there you have it," he shrugged. "We're moving to another safe house."

"Where even _are_ we?" Marlea asked tiredly, looking out the windows again.

Jun smiled at her, but didn't answer.

Lea messed with the bandage on her arm with a sigh.

"I don't mean to be rude, of course," he noted. "I just know that your first instincts are to worry about yourselves…even Ryu's boy did that."

"Som?" I asked, looking up to him in disbelief.

What did Som have to do with _anything_?

"Oh? You know him?" Jun tilted his head at us. "That's odd, I didn't think your uncle would introduce you to his lover."

"Whatever," Marlea retorted, giving him a look.

"You didn't know?" Jun asked with interest. "How very odd…I wonder if his wife knows."

"She knew the day after it happened," Lea retorted.

I looked out the window myself, studying the buildings we were passing since we'd come into a town.

Sabgia Audio, Sabgia Insurance…Sabgia Grocery…Sabgia Books.

Something told me we were in Sabgia.

Unfortunately, I couldn't recall if Sabgia was a city or a county, but it did mean the Western border of Sanq.

Marlea was busily distracting our host with bickering arguments, and I wondered how I could get the message to my dad…or one of Quatre's agents.

"Actually, Uncle Duo doesn't realize we know," Marlea noted, bringing me back to focus. "My dad was complaining to me about it and I told Alex."

"You seem awfully calm," Jun noted pointedly. "Doesn't this information disturb you?"

I shrugged along with my cousin.

It didn't matter anyway. My dad was being Som's father figure now.

"He didn't press charges like he was supposed to," Jun mused in annoyance. "And then he couldn't even _kill_ him right."

I focused on the man with widening eyes.

"I paid that boy good money," he added, meeting Lea's eyes. "His father said he was a fully trained assassin and that he could get in there and kill your…uncle…but he got up there and god only _knows_ what happened then, because Duo's _not_ dead."

"Som's an assassin?" I asked, staring at him with very wide eyes.

"A very attractive one, don't you think?" he asked with a grin. "He was supposed to charge your uncle with misconduct, but he was far too emotional to pull it off...damn…he even _had_ your fathers' training."

"Obviously not Heero's training," Lea muttered, looking down.

I sniggered slightly at that.

"Hm, evidently not."

We both fell quiet, realizing she'd annoyed him again.

Something told me we were in for a very long night.

…at least until we could find our opening and run.

Tad would be disappointed in me if I did anything else.

- -

Duo and Quatre were discussing a Gundam, and how to make something close with normal mobile suits. Design forms, weaponry, thermal technology.

They knew it all. They knew shit I had no _idea_ about.

I stared at Heero's feet as they argued about the shape of an elbow joint and how necessary the covering of the thing would be.

"But we'd _see_ any rocket launcher before it could get in close enough to do anything," Trowa noted, rolling his eyes. "And if it were shot from afar…shit, even an Aries could manage that."

"But how many shots could it take?" Quatre demanded.

"How many shots would you _let_ it take?" Duo retorted.

I was slightly cold.

I had, of course, been drilled in the Aries. The Aries and the Leo were the only Mobile Suit types that were even around, and none were being made new. My instructor had told me that the Leo would be similar enough to an Aries that I could figure it out on the fly, and that I'd be much more likely to come across an Aries in general if I had to _have_ an MS.

He hadn't taught me any mechanics, he hadn't taught me any maneuvering…he hadn't even taught me how to fly a shuttle.

"That was the biggest flaw of the Heavyarms," Heero muttered tiredly. He'd been repeating over and over again that they weren't going to create _new_ forms of MS as we went. It'd taken until Duo had snarled at him that they were just passing time that he'd stopped, and he'd been in something of a doze since.

"I always thought the biggest flaw was making it," Trowa retorted.

They all grinned at him.

"Sandrock was fine, but…no offense intended, Q, but it should have been me or Duo in it."

"Eh…I did well enough," Quatre returned tiredly. "I think I'd have been in hell with Deathscythe," he shuddered slightly. "Don't even make me think about Zero."

Heero smirked evilly at him.

"Now Shen-Long," Duo noted, "Shen-Long was a piece of work."

"I hated that thing with a holy passion," Heero agreed.

Wufei sniggered.

"Not the funnest thing to fight," Heero noted, sliding down where he sat. "There was something about the pilot and the ego the size of a fucking whale."

Wufei _really_ laughed at that.

"Kinda hard to get at the thing over that ego…"

"If you had my attributes, you'd have the ego to go with it," Wufei noted.

They all laughed at that.

I looked up to Wufei, who grinned at me in a way that suggested he was serious…which made me blush and look away.

Trowa leaned over and hit Wufei in the leg.

Wufei laughed delightedly.

"It's starting to hurt again," Duo muttered quietly, shifting around in his seat so he could lean his back against Heero with his feet slightly against Wufei. He was studying his bandaged hand.

"Leave it, Omae," Heero muttered, reaching around his friend to pull Duo's fingers from the opening he was trying to pick at.

"It hurts," Duo protested, trying to brush that off. "I want to move it…"

"Leave it," Heero repeated.

Duo sighed, cradling his hand to his chest…as Heero offered him something above his mouth.

"Can you make it fifteen minutes?" the king asked.

"We're five from the area," Quatre noted, looking to his watch.

Duo snatched whatever Heero'd offered and popped it in his mouth.

"You hate me now, don't you?" I asked before I could stop myself, looking down.

"I'm pissed at you," Duo returned in a low voice. "There's a world of difference."

"What?" Trowa asked quietly.

"Nothing," Duo replied darkly, resituating how he sat. "They're going to be gone before we get there."

"Reiko would have sent people on ahead of us," Quatre muttered. "At the very least they can give us a direction. Look at it this way, we're damned if we do, and we're damned if we don't."

…and it was all _my_ fault.

My stomach was upset.

- -

"Dad said they were coming," I reminded Lex as we sat together in the window-seat of some fancy house. "We might be able to wait, but if we wait, then he might find a reason to hurt you."

She nodded, biting at her lip.

The door opened and Jun moved in to look at the bed, then frown at us.

"What's up?" I asked. He'd ended up slapping me again, and I was starting to understand how to keep him from getting riled.

"You should go to bed," he noted. "It's getting late."

"We're a little shaken up," I noted, looking away. "It's been a long day."

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I never meant to upset you."

I nodded, accepting that. In a funny way, he meant it. He wasn't accepting that this really was all _his_ own fault. He had the thought process Lex or I could get into and get away with. We'd wouldn't accept the blame when something serious happened, because there were always mitigating factors, but _he_ was older than our uncles. _He_ was probably forty…with the mind of a seventeen year old.

I was amazed he'd even thought to get us pants.

He hadn't even thought to have the pockets checked, but Lex and I'd had time to go through the pockets of the things. There were a few magazines, and a few loaded clips…those would do us no good. We didn't shoot. There were a few odd implements I'd seen in Duo's stuff, gun care or something…and those would be equally as useless. On the flip side, there was a coil of knotted rope in mine. Sleek nylon that was only about seven feet long. It was more like glorified fishing wire, really, but it would hold both of our weight at the same time…at least until we got to a point where we could jump safely to the ground and run.

My uncle, ever practical, had impressed on both my cousin and I the utility of combat boots, and they really did look cute with our skirts. It gave us both a more sporty look than the girls in heels or loafers.

The key thing was the money.

Between us there was a hundred dollars from the various pockets.

"Do you need anything?" he asked solicitously, glancing toward our bathroom.

"No," I muttered, crawling over the bed and starting to pick at the strings of my boots. "I'm fine, it's just…"

"I do have some sleep aid," he offered. "It'd help you sleep tonight."

"I can't wake up out of those," Alex refused, pulling her hair back. "We're fine…if the house stays quiet we should be able to relax."

He nodded, rubbing at his brow a moment as he studied her, then considered me. It was the type of look I was used to getting from boys my age, but getting it from him was creepy.

"Sleep well, then," he suggested, moving back to the door. "I'll wake you up tomorrow around eight to get you breakfast."

We nodded at that, crawling under the blankets.

"I'd offer you your own rooms, but I get the feeling you'd refuse."

"Mr. Martin," I muttered as Alex settled, "your man could have _killed_ our bodyguard. You're using us as ransom so our fathers give you money that you made from the drug trade…and you cut me," I showed him my bandaged arm. "I'm not gonna be able to sleep with you in here."

He narrowed his eyes at me, then rolled them and flicked out the light. He disappeared.

- -

I grabbed the blue striped skirt that was the uniform of the high school the girls attended and looked it over with a sickened sensation in my stomach. If I didn't know for a fact that Jun'd had the girls put pants on, I probably would have lost anything resembling sanity.

"Look," Quatre muttered, picking up the bright pink cell phone that was Alex's.

"They didn't seriously let them _keep_ their phones, did they?" Duo demanded.

I took it from the blond, opening it.

There was a message notice flashing on the screen, and I hit the accept button.

"I'm so sorry we moved along," Jun muttered in a mock sincere tone. "I had urgent business at another location." The camera panned around to show Alex and Marlea sitting together on a bed. "As you can see, the girls are fine," he noted, moving closer. "Look up please, ladies."

My hand clenched around the skirt.

"I must compliment you on such well behaved children. The blond made one slip of tongue and has since been acting like a complete angel."

"Something about upsetting a megalomaniac doesn't sit right with me," Marlea retorted.

Jun offered her the back of his hand and she looked away.

"Are they okay?" Quatre demanded harshly.

"We're all right, Daddy," Marlea added, almost as if this were a real-time thing. "We had pizza for supper and he has us a pack of water-bottles that no one else can get into because they're _with_ us."

"He's the only one who comes in," Alex added, looking up to the camera.

"As much as I'd enjoy the conversation of two obviously educated young ladies," Jun added, turning the camera back around to himself, then blinking beyond it as the thing steadied and centered on him. "Thank you, Miss Barton," he muttered. "Now…" he focused on the camera again. "As much as I'd enjoy the conversation of these two very intelligent young ladies, I imagine you'd like them back to you in one piece. I will have to insist that you halt your army here and wait for further communications from me before proceeding."

Nothing happened for a second and he moved to take the phone from my daughter.

"Why can't I select the carbon copy mail?" he demanded.

"My dad said it cost too much and I'd use it to cheat in class," Marlea retorted. "You can send it to them one at a time…"

"I thought you ended the recording?" Jun muttered irritably.

"Oh, sorry," Alex replied almost insincerely.

Jun tsked…and the recording ended.

Duo sniggered.

"Why are they cooperating with him?" Som demanded.

"A complacent enemy is much easier to topple than a wary one," Quatre retorted. "A man waiting for a blow will tense up and watch his center of mass, but a man who is winning without issue will let himself relax some."

I flicked through the recordings listed on the phone, finally noting one with my name on it.

"We have money," Marlea muttered, raising a handful of bills into sight and glancing nervously toward the door to the room. "He didn't check the pants before he had us put them on. He just made his guys take them off and had us put them on. We're in our boots and we have money…shh…" the camera wavered in a way that suggested Alex had turned. "He's coming back," Marlea hissed into the camera. "We've got to go."

That went blank.

I lowered the phone to look at Quatre.

"Damn," Som muttered. "Why did he let them keep the thing?"

"He probably got called out," Duo returned, thinking about it.

I closed the phone, taking a very long breath.

"It doesn't matter," Heero mused. "It means that they're planning to run."

"Are you serious?" Som demanded skeptically. "They're _sixteen_."

Duo moved in and grabbed him by the throat so they were eye to eye. "My _seven_ year old beat you at _chess_," he half snarled.

I stepped forward and rested my hand on his wrist, meeting his eyes.

Until Som actually _made_ a mistake, I wasn't planning on letting Duo hurt him.

Duo turned away without further comment, twitching as he did so.

Wufei took the phone from me before I could say anything, hitting a few buttons as he dropped onto the bed. "Hey, just wanted to let you know we got your message," the Chinese man noted in tired sounding Mandarin. "Yes. We understand."

I heard a noise in the living room and moved to the door to see Keith moving into the area with his arms crossed and a very tired look on his face.

I snapped my fingers, indicating he needed to wait.

"Yeah, it's nice," Wufei muttered tiredly. "Well, the fathers are trying not to cry and Heero's trying to keep Duo from freaking out…yes. No, he's still that violent…what? We left that little fucker in the jail-cell."

Som's expression turned hurt.

"No, I guess he's not all that good. Yeah, Duo…"

Som turned very hurt eyes onto Duo.

Duo made a curt gesture at him, not meeting his eyes for more than a moment.

"I'm in the room," Wufei returned. "Quatre found the skirts and the phone and brought them out. Yeah…yes. No, we're not moving now. Something for something, Jun. You took our girls, you'll have to give something up in the end…oh yeah, we've got a few people going over the account books…"

Duo actually _dropped_ on top of Wufei before the guy could say more, and Fei oofed, startled from the conversation as Duo snatched the phone from him. They fought over it for a moment before Wufei finally gave up.

"We're waiting for your instructions," Duo snarled into the mouthpiece…and hung up. "Don't talk to him anymore," Duo added to Wufei pulling him around in a way that nearly had Wufei falling off the end of the bed before being face to face with the Caucasian male around the corner. "_You_ are not to _**talk**_ to him."

"He was saying for me…" Wufei started, his eyes wide.

"I'm not losing you to him," Duo hissed, shoving the man away as he rose to his feet and paced toward the living room…he stopped in the door between the two rooms.

"Damn fine mess you got yourself into, Cat," Keith noted.

Duo twitched.

"Your sister-in-law gave birth to a five pound little baby this morning," he added. "A little boy, named him Cicus…damn bad name if you ask me."

Duo twitched again, raising his arms to massage at his neck before folding his arms over his face.

"He's at Branton," Keith added, moving closer to the door. "He had his man Ryu buy him the place about six weeks ago."

"What?" Som demanded, darting forward.

Before I could speak, or Duo could more than turn to look, Som had darted into the door…and Keith had his gun raised.

Som stopped.

"I thought you looked familiar, little boy toy," Keith noted, moving closer as Som stared back without moving a muscle. "Took me a bit to realize who you were, you've grown, huh?"

Som didn't say anything.

"Keith," Duo muttered with a heavy sigh.

"You'd better stop your games now," the man snarled. "Duo'd never cheat on my sister, and you'd never get in close enough to kill him."

Duo laughed and flinched at the same time, grabbing the boy and shoving him from the doorway. "I know there's some sort of baser stupidity involved here…but…I done fucked the boy."

Keith stared at him in disbelief.

"You don't tell a man with a drawn weapon that you cheated on his twin," Heero noted, moving forward to Duo's side. "You're very right. That is the most _basic_ stupidity of all."

Duo flinched again.

"Are you all right?" Keith demanded, the weapon lowering, then thought about it.

"I told Nira the day it happened," Duo returned, flinching again. "Som's inability is what has the girls grabbed."

That made Keith think, but he was also looking at me. He tucked the weapon away finally, moving forward to us…and…punching Duo in the stomach.

"Ouch," Duo noted.

"I should _kick_ your ass!" Keith shoved Duo at me, storming into the room properly to look around in his own aggravation.

Duo flinched again.

"We really need to get you to someone for that," Heero muttered, moving forward to rest his hands on Duo's back, starting to massage.

"How are you all just _okay_ with this?" Keith snapped.

"I'm sorry," Som muttered, tearful. He sank down the wall much like he had in Duo's apartment, covering his head with his arms and looking somewhat like he wanted to disappear.

"Because a willing night with Duo means you're his," I retorted, moving around the king and knight to pull the boy to me. "Selena said that if it ever happened he needed to just tell her and he did."

"Oh my _god_," Keith added irritably, then stopped and looked at Wufei, who was looking pointedly away from his eyes. He was still against the wall he'd been shoved against, and looked like he'd only just started to avoid eyes.

Som clung to me.

"How do you know it's Branton?" Quatre demanded evenly, the skirt balled between his hands.

Keith looked from him to me and smiled very slightly. "I have connections."

- -

E/N: I meant to update earlier, but was working, sorry.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

"Zechs!"

I flew into my brother's arms as Lucratzia moved around to hug me hard.

"Thanks for _calling_," he snapped in extreme irritation. "What the _hell_ is going on around here?"

"Who _did_ call you?" I asked blankly, blinking up at him.

Hilde, Selena, and I had gathered in Hilde's apartment. We weren't sure why, but Trowa's apartment seemed safest.

The kids were playing in the very small courtyard between the side of the apartment and the main wing of the castle, and I had to wonder who'd had the ingenious idea of trying to build an apartment without windows before realizing it wouldn't work and altering the plans so the area was there. The castle itself didn't have windows for the privacy of whatever lucky person lived in the apartment…but Trowa and Hilde had decided they wanted the thing and that had been the end of it.

At any rate, the area was big enough for three seven year olds and two puppies, and there were guards across the roof accesses.

"I called," Hilde noted, looking up from where she was diapering Mikhail. "You were pulling out your hair because Heero was telling you they'd actually gotten the order not to move, and Selena was off making sure the kingdom was safe with Jacob…and it occurred to me that I was more than just a babysitter."

I smiled embarrassedly at her.

"So what's up? Where are the girls?" Zechs muttered, looking around.

"Tasia is sleeping," I returned, pointing toward one of the bassinettes, "and Faye is playing with Ash and Dusty."

"Okay," Zechs muttered, looking to Hilde, who only met his eyes a moment. "Where are the _older_ girls?"

I closed my eyes, realizing why Hilde was saying nothing.

"Relena?" Zechs demanded.

"What's going on?" Lucratzia added, moving around me slightly. "What do you mean, an order not to move?"

"Jun…Jun Martin got Alex and Lea," I returned, swallowing.

This was going to be one damn _long_ conversation.

- -

"Okay," I hissed as Marlea climbed carefully out the window. She yanked at the rope and pushed a bit away from the building and I caught her…sort of…around the waste so she could land right.

The rope thing slithered out after us and we exchanged a scared look as she wound the thing around her arm and crammed it back into the pocket of her pants.

We both started moving along the slanted roof-top until we reached the edge of the rather large house and stopped. I ducked my head forward to look at ground level, seeing a couple men standing by a fire-place dish thing at the front corner. I pursed my lips, moving back as my cousin looked around me.

"Now what?" I hissed at her.

"What would Duo do?" she asked.

"Go over there and kick their asses," I returned.

She frowned and met my eyes. "What would Wufei do?"

"Go over there and insult them, _then_ kick their asses."

She grinned at that as a car drove by the road and the men looked toward the road with interest.

We both grabbed the lattice against the building without hesitation and darted across the grass. There were shrubs along the outer fence, and we dived for those, swallowing hard as she pressed ourselves flat against the brick wall.

Marlea nodded with her head toward the far corner of the yard, and we both started quietly down the fence.

"What the hell, who opened the flood-gates?" someone demanded irritably.

"Flood-gates?" there was definite fear in that voice.

Another car drove by…and then another.

Someone laughed. "Poor colony boys…"

"I'll show you boy, your wife won't be calling me no boy…"

"Wife?" the person guffawed. "My guy's gonna worry about _her_…shit…"

There was more raucous laughter at that as we reached the back corner.

"Hold up," the colony boy muttered.

We froze.

I heard steps coming slightly toward us, even though there were several hundred yards between us and them…and a flash-light beam shone up the yard.

"Oh, whatever!" someone else laughed more. "You're really sheltered up there, aren't you? You're all freaked out that Rodney has a _boyfriend_."

That got more laughter, but the flashlight went off and the person they were teasing started bitching.

"Help me up," Marlea whispered as the guys laughed even more.

I clasped my fingers together and bent over as my cousin stepped into that, and then I tried to lift her. She was kinda heavy, and then she scrambled up the bricks. It took her a moment to heave herself onto the fence top, and the commentary from the men was getting a bit more lewd.

"There's a post," she whispered. "I'll get the rope."

It took a few moments for the black thing to be dropped for me. It was hard to climb it, but as soon as I got into arm's reach, Lea grabbed me as best she could and helped haul me up.

"Let's go," she whispered. "Find a taxi or a bus or something, huh?"

"Yeah," I agreed, taking the rope with me as we dropped into someone's back yard…and ran for the far fence.

- -

"Oh, come now," Jun protested via vid at Heero. "You can wait a few more hours, can't you? I mean, really, go have breakfast and the money will be available."

"There's something about _you_ having the girls that sets my teeth on edge and ruins my appetite," Ro retorted.

"The girls like pastries, right?" Jun asked, looking beyond Heero. Heero was the only one standing by a machine, but he had told us not to go anywhere. We'd claimed that Duo's behavior over the phone and vid had made us worry about our children's safety, so Duo was outside pacing

"As long as you've gotten them toothbrushes," I retorted.

Jun's eyes widened. "Oh, damn…I have to go. I wanted to wake them up with cinnamon rolls, yeah?"

"They like them," Trowa said coldly.

"It's eight," Jun added, looking to his watch. "I told them I'd wake them up at eight."

I'd just had the longest night of my life. I'd always thought those nights with soldiers looking for me would be considered the longest, but then my daughter was gone and there was just no _end_ to the night…

"I'll let you gentlemen go and have the young ladies check in, huh?" he noted…and disconnected.

I rubbed hard at my eyes.

Duo, Wufei, and Keith had gone to Branton. They'd taken Som with them. I was dying, knowing that this separation had to happen, but there was something about my daughter being gone and half of my protective group being gone that made my stomach sour.

Heero paced back to us, running his hands through his hair. "He's stopped saying anything about Wufei."

"He probably doesn't think about it as much," I noted, rubbing at my eyes. "He mainly only said it to Duo…I think you're right. I think he'd just want him to kill Duo."

Heero nodded, and then started shaking his head.

- -

"No, it's like what we did with you," Duo snapped to the backseat where the Ryu boy and Wufei were sitting. "I came up, I checked on you, I told you were coming and I got out."

"So you'll just leave the girls?" Wufei demanded back.

"Of course not," Duo snapped. "There are more of us and it's not thirty stories up."

"So how is it like with me?" Wufei demanded irritably.

"We have an inside man," Duo said darkly. "He may not be able to get us in, but he can at least distract some of the guards."

"It's a half-assed job," I noted to my brother-in-law. "They have one set in front and every now and again someone will wander into the backyard, but the girls are in a second story room as far as I could tell—I told Jun what I did with Fei, though," I added. "I woulda gotten in again, but he knows I was double-crossing him."

"What?" Ryu's son demanded.

I groaned, looking to Duo in irritation. "How could you _fuck_ him?"

"Don't be an ass," he reprimanded, rolling his eyes. "It was really easy, just to let you know."

"I know I'm easy," Som muttered, looking down.

"No, he meant fucking you was easy," Wufei returned.

"Why do you _care_?" I demanded of them both in annoyance. "Shit, he was _hired_ to kill you!"

"I said I was sorry," the kid muttered.

"I was looking down the barrel of his _gun_, Ace," Duo snapped back. "He _fired_ the gun. He's not a bad aim…and it didn't hit me."

"Ace?" Som repeated.

Wufei looked to the boy, then smirked slightly. "What do you know, boy?"

"I thought you loved my sister," I grumbled at Duo.

"I _do_ love your sister," he retorted.

"Fine way of showing it."

"Back in November when she was pregnant?" he snapped back.

Really?

"You know, I was kidding when I told her you should fuck him," I noted.

"Oh haha," Duo grumbled, looking out the window.

"I shouldn't have come," Som muttered.

"Shut up," I retorted, rolling my eyes. "My issues isn't with you, it's with my damned brother-in-law. You did what you hired for."

"I did _not_!" he protested at me in a half wail.

"Som, please," Duo muttered, turning to look at him. His tone was pleading and heartfelt, and more reassuring.

I hit him in the arm.

- -

"Oh, he _didn't_," I muttered, resting my face in one hand.

"Yeah, he did," Trowa returned.

"Oh…damn it…"

"They should be getting there soon," Trowa added. "They said they'd call. We're waiting for the girls to check in."

"Great," I muttered, my stomach twisting.

"Selena?" Trowa muttered.

"Yeah?" I asked quietly.

"You have the money?"

"Yeah," I returned.

"You can take it from my account," he informed me. "We don't have to have a deficit here totally…"

"Trowa," I reprimanded.

"It's just…"

"Duo's going there now," I snapped. "Even if we transfer the money we'll have it back by sunset."

Trowa didn't say anything.

"I've gotta go," I noted. "Zechs and Lucretzia showed up last night, and some chick named Dorothy came waltzing in this morning when the news broke it."

"Dorothy? Seriously?" Trowa sounded startled.

"I've gathered she had something to do with the wars…she's marching the guards around here like a slave driver and barking at the heels of the intelligence service." I smiled slightly.

Keith had found them.

Maybe now he and Duo could get over their bullshit—but just as easily, he and Duo could get down to the kill or be killed part.

"Keith and Duo are going to fight," I noted. "Duo's owning up to that shit with Som with everyone…"

"And you're twins," Trowa agreed. "Yeah, no matter how serious our conversations or planning could get, Keith would end up focusing on Som and snapping at Duo. The two of them are bickering like high school boys over a girl."

"Mrs. Maxwell!" Dorothy called.

"I've gotta go," I noted, grinning slightly. "Things will work out, be at ease."

"At ease," he retorted, snorting…and hung up.

"Mrs. Maxwell," Dorothy's blond head poked into the room and she frowned at me.

"Trowa," I explained, showing her my phone. "He was checking on the process of the money."

"Ah," she muttered, nodding. "Come along, we have a lot to do and not enough time to sit around and chitter at pretty boys."

"Chitter at pretty boys?" I asked her dryly. "Do you _know_ Mr. Trowa? He's hardly a boy."

"Mr. Trowa?" she repeated blankly.

I grinned at that, moving from the bedroom I'd claimed of Trowa's apartment rooms. "Let's go."

- -

I bit my lip as Alex and I moved from the taxi. We'd decided to go to a mall where there'd be lots of people and pay phones.

We didn't want to call our parents, because Jun would be watching their lines, and if my dad or Trowa were still in Sabgia, they wouldn't be able to get to us before Jun's goons found us.

Jesse was living across the border in a city called Marsh, and the statute of limitations on his warrant had expired in January.

Our trip from Branton to Garrison had taken hours. When we'd reached the main area of Branton, there'd been no taxis to speak of and the public transportation had closed down. We'd barely managed, for twenty dollars, to catch the last shuttle train out. It'd been a two hour ride with stops here and there…which put us at five A.M., and then we'd walked from the train station for more than an hour before any taxi at all had shown up.

I hoped Tad was all right.

The mall was fifteen minutes away from the border, and if we could actually get ahold of Jesse, he'd know what to do.

We hadn't seen any of Wufei's Garrisons, or even Duo's force-main. We hadn't been able to find the local Armory, either.

"There," I muttered, pointing to a far corner of the room. It was almost eight.

"And now to our late breaking story," a television in the food court caught my attention as a sweeping helicopter view panned over a very long stretch of military vehicles. "Concerning the kidnap and ransom of Alexia Barton and Marlea Winner…"

I tugged at my cousin's shirt, pointing at that.

We _could_ just go to the police.

"…no new information has been found," the person reporting noted as pictures of us flashed up.

I sniggered at that as Alex guffawed.

That was kinda a let down.

"The king and his knights are…" she went on, but Alex had activated the vid screen. She typed in Jesse's assumed name and we waited as it searched the local area…before popping up an unkempt picture of him and asking if this was the person whom we'd intended.

I touched the screen before she could move, and it flashed a request for five dollars. She fed the money into the machine and it flashed the connecting symbol before the beeping that implied ringing started.

"What?" Jesse asked, looking pensive, then stared at us.

"Hi, uncle," Alex muttered as I pursed my lips. "We're at the Fort Honor Mall in Garrison."

"Are you, really?" he asked. "What a very odd thing," he gestured to his right. "I could have sworn you were in the clutches of a bad man."

"Daddy taught me not to talk to strangers, and Uncle Duo taught me to run good," Alex agreed in a sweetly innocent tone.

"And you told us we could count on you," I agreed.

"Wonderful," he said with a smile. "I was just about to come pick you up."

It was the kinda thing Duo'd say to Selena when she told him to do something.

We grinned at him.

He grinned back, considering it. "They're in Sabgia. If you're in Garrison there's no way in hell they'd get to you before the goons did. I think the police would be in over their heads if you went to them because they'd just announce it. Garrison, despite its name, doesn't _have_ a garrison, you realize that, don't you?"

"It's kinda why we called you, mister twenty-minutes-away."

He smirked at that. "Unless you want the citizens to rescue you, I suggest you hide out somewhere. My warrant better be dead." He was rising as he muttered more to himself…and disconnected.

I looked to Alex.

"So…where should we wait?"

"The people _would_ save us," she noted, looking over the mall.

"Or Jun's people would get to us before Dad's."

"But we don't know where anyone is," she protested. "Come on, the entire kingdom is loyal to Relena and Heero."

"Mass generalization. If we go to the local authority they'd have to transport us to wherever else."

"And Jesse won't?"

"Jesse won't announce it to the press that we're here, and if Jun's people are already close, we're screwed anyway."

"You're so optimistic," she retorted.

"There's a time to be bold and a time to hide, and I think two sixteen year old girls who ran away from their kidnappers might want to hide."

"Let's at _least_ get breakfast," she muttered, looking toward the food court again.

"The idea of staying hidden is completely foreign to you, isn't it?" I demanded.

She gave me a look.

I pointed at a vending machine not far from where we were.

She sighed, and led the way.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

"Ladies, I've got…breakfast…" Jun stepped into the bedroom and stared at the empty bed in disbelief before looking to the bathroom and then turning to move to the closet.

Empty.

The Asian man considered that a long moment as he turned to look at the windows on the far side of the room…and the one that was hanging open.

He darted to it, sticking his head out and looking down.

It was further than they could really _jump_, so he hadn't _thought_ they'd take it, and it wasn't even like he'd thought they might get out on their own…

Shit, he should have thought about it a little more when he'd realized they were wearing combat boots.

He set the bag with personal supplies on the windowsill and propped himself against one arm.

The king didn't know where he was, right?

If they didn't know where he was it wasn't like they could confirm that the girls were there…and if…

He turned and darted into the main room as one of his guys started to protest about the door being left open.

"What's it saying?" he demanded of the guy he'd set to watching the news reports.

"Nothing, really," the guy returned, meeting his eyes. He frowned. "What's up?"

"They're gone," Jun returned, turning to his second. "They're…gone."

The man stared at him.

"Oh…fuck."

- -

"You _said_ you'd have them check in!" Trowa shouted at the screen. "You said you'd prove they were _fine_! Where _is_ my daughter! _Alex! Lex! Lexia!_"

Jun slammed his hand against the screen, his eyes angry. "You'll have to just take my word, Mr. Barton."

"Where is my _daughter_," I demanded, moving forward myself. "You were showing us they were fine…what happened? If someone raped them, so help me…"

"I told you, Mr. Winner," Jun hissed back with narrowed eyes, "you'll have to trust me. If you don't want me to kill them, I suggest you do as I say."

"We won't transfer the money without seeing our children _safe_," I hissed in return.

"I wouldn't harm your children, Mr. Winner. You lot are a bit too unstable for that."

"So you kidnap them?" Trowa demanded, his ire rising again.

"_Transfer_ the money!" Jun _shouted_ back at us, making the speakers crackle…before disconnecting.

I shifted back on my heels to turn wide eyes onto Trowa.

Trowa stared back at me.

…something was wrong.

We could tell it by the way Jun'd informed us that the girls were eating and couldn't come to the vid. He'd told us where to transfer the money to…and things had kinda gotten messy.

Where were the girls? Had they actually ran?

He couldn't have been stupid enough to…

He _had_ left that cell phone with them for whatever reason before he left.

- -

"What's up?" Wufei muttered as Som peeked up from where he'd been curled in the back seat of the car. "We're pulling into Branton."

"Who is it?" I asked, poking at the cut of my lip with my tongue.

"What do you mean, he won't let you talk to them?" Wufei demanded sharply. I could hear…Trowa…talking quickly in his agitated fashion. For a man usually so quiet, when he got aggravated he could talk _damn_ fast… "Wh…no…I…wait…" Wufei frowned as the talking intensified. "Trowa!"

Keith looked over his shoulder at the Asian males a moment, turning into a large parking lot.

"He said he'd have them call and then called back and said that we had to just trust him," Wufei informed me with a frown.

Som sat up.

"What? Yeah…maybe ten minutes. No…well, see, Keith decided to be a genius and _hit_ Duo…and we ended up going off the road…no. Yes…well, they got out of the car to do it…no. You shouldn't have to ask," his tone went extremely dry. "Duo got a few bruises, but he basically kicked his ass. Yes, I know…well, let's see…it's a two-door car, it wasn't in _park_, and by the time I got out to stop them they were both just kinda laying there…heh, I kicked Duo."

I gave him a look and he smiled back innocently.

"Well, Keith decided to add asshole on top of genius and was tearing Som a new asshole because evidently the fact that he was hired to create a scandal and didn't means he's completely to blame for Duo's infidelity."

I flinched hard, turning away from my friend.

"…well, no. Som went fetal and Duo threatened to do something unpleasant before Keith'd shut up. All right," he added in a sort of understanding voice…and passed the phone to Som.

Som blinked at that, then blinked at him…before taking it. "Yeah?" he asked in a very quiet voice.

"He said that Jun called this morning," Wufei informed Keith and I. "He was being his normal cheery self and said he'd go get the girls breakfast and have them call back…and then he called back about an hour later and said that they were busy and couldn't come to the phone. He gave them the account numbers and insisted they transfer the money and he'd send the girls back afterwards."

I looked to Keith.

"He said that Jun wasn't as calm and composed when he called back, too. I guess he'd been forcing that good humor."

"Did I ever tell you that Jun _was_ grinding kaseen onto your food?" Ace asked, looking away from us.

"What?" Wufei asked blankly.

"He had those meals prepared for you, remember? All sweet and nice as he said he wouldn't drug your food, but there was enough kaseen in that shit to keep you going for days."

Wufei blinked.

"I think his plan was that you'd eventually be starving enough to take a bit and that'd be a substantial dose. If you'd have eaten the plate it'd probably have killed you."

"He wouldn't dare," I growled, horror rising in my stomach at the idea of my _nieces_ with that.

"I don't know, Duo," Keith muttered, looking sidelong at me. "His gear 's slipped a groove and he's running in fourth going about ten."

I focused on my wrapped hand as it stung, realizing I had my fist clenched tightly. It was probably bleeding…

"It's just…" I could hear tears in Som's voice. "I know…but…"

"Can you give the kid a break?" I demanded of Ace instead, covering my face with my left hand. "He wasn't out there because he thought I was coming. There was no way he could have known I'd go out there, and they're guarded at night so he wouldn't have just been going out there nightly."

"How do you know? Ryu said his brat was trained like you damned pilots."

I shook my head.

"It's what he was paid for."

"Then why didn't he _press **charges**_?" I hissed.

The man considered that, and I blinked as it occurred to me that he and Selena had the _exact_ same eyes.

Now _that's_ one to fuck with you.

"…what did you _do_ to him?" Keith whispered harshly.

"But…" Som muttered something I couldn't quite understand.

"I didn't do _anything_," I retorted.

"What _you_ consider _anything_ is hardly the _norm_."

I tsked at him in irritation, noticing from the corner of my eye that Wufei was running his hands comfortingly through Som's hair. His expression was sad, and I had to wonder if he was listening to Keith and I or not.

"I'm serious," Keith persisted. "If you scared him, he wouldn't want to cross you."

"He doesn't like pain," I noted, looking away. "I didn't do anything."

Keith's cell started to ring.

"Yeah?" he asked almost instantly having the thing to his ear. His eyes lit up and he turned his head to look at me. "Are you…really? A rope?" that was confused. "You're joking, right? You double-crossin' me? No? You sure? I will _take_ your man and throw…heh," he smirked evilly. "He's fine, but I'm not there so I can't give you that reassurance. I have him with a friend. Searching?" the expression became less pleased. "Three? Cameras?" he snickered. "All right. If you go over to the Range Hotel on Sandy street you'll find him. Huh? No…actually, I'm straight, so he's just kinda bound and gagged on the bed."

I choked on that, noting that Wufei was looking to us.

"Oh, it doesn't matter now," Keith reassured him. "You just told me everything I needed to know…oh yeah. No…hey, I didn't hurt your man too much, so let it go. Talk your way out and go untie him. I left the key under his windshield wiper…bye."

"What?" I demanded.

The man laughed delightedly, turning to look at me properly. "The girls are gone."

"Gone?" I demanded, starting to move.

"They escaped around three last night," he agreed happily.

I stopped.

"Said something about a bus or a taxi…had some sort of rope…the security guy fell asleep around two-thirty and woke up around three-fifteen, which was enough time for them to be at least _in_ Branton. Jun's freaking out."

"Hey, Trowa?"

I turned to look at Som, who was rubbing at tears in his eyes as he frowned at Wufei.

"Yeah…well, Keith's inside source just let us know that the girls aren't _with_ Jun anymore. Something about a camera guy falling asleep and a rope."

Relief warred with horror.

Why hadn't they called?

"There was something about a bus or a taxi, and a boyfriend tied up in a hotel room…yeah…I think I remember _why_ we started calling Keith a lunatic…" he laughed. "Heero might appreciate that more."

Keith turned to grin at him.

I opened the car door, looking the city over. "Where are they?"

"What?" Keith and Wufei demanded at the same time.

"_Where_ are they? Where is Jun?" I returned, looking back to them.

"Why?" Keith asked warily.

I stared directly back at him, not commenting.

"Ryu said it was a three story over on Blockford," Keith pointed to the northwest. "I guess its' got a red-brick fence and bar gates and shit, cost a hefty mil."

"How do you know that?" Som asked. I could see that he didn't want Keith's attention on him anymore than it had to be, but the guy _was_ talking about his father.

"Well, see," Keith returned, "after Nira left yesterday morning, Janie finally went into labor. We couldn't get ahold of Nira at the castle to tell her, so I decided I'd go check out what was going on. I was checking into a hotel when Sunan strolled up to me and informed me that he knew who I was. That always gets my attention, because other than this lot," he indicated Fei and I, "no one calls me Ace…or the Lunatic…he used both."

I leaned down to meet Wufei's eyes.

He was obviously thinking.

"It's…not…my dad…tied up, is it?"

"What?" Keith looked startled by that, then sniggered and looked to me.

"Evidently I fucked him when I was chasing you," I noted.

"Who _didn't_ you fuck?" Wufei grumbled.

"You," I returned.

He gave me a look to melt stone—even if he _was_ still wearing my ring.

"What?" Som demanded, sitting up straighter.

"Oh, yeah," I muttered. "Those two years? He was the dumb-ass I was trying to find."

"I run real good," Keith explained in return.

"But…you're…Selena's _twin_," Som protested, his eyes going wide as he looked back to me.

I smiled at him. "I've been screwed under, over, around, and through in my life. I don't let the little things affect me anymore."

"Including marriage oaths," Ace snapped.

"I _told_ you it was a mistake," I snapped. "Shit, you'd think Selena was crying herself to sleep at night over _one_ indiscretion."

"Just once?" Keith asked, amazed.

"He told her later that day," Som agreed, looking down. "I had to tell Quatre what happened, and then Fei and Heero both demanded if he'd raped me."

Keith's eyes narrowed on mine.

I wasn't going to react anymore…I had more important things to do.

I stared back to him.

"I coulda pressed charges," Som noted, looking sadly to Keith. "I coulda did exactly what Jun had wanted me to do…but Duo cares about me…and Selena both. Selena's a better mom to me than mine was."

"Some sort of dad though, huh?" Keith snapped, still watching me.

Wufei sighed and slid between the two seats so his ass was in the passenger. "Trowa's his father, Ace. Let's get going. I need to figure out where the girls went."

"What about Duo?" Keith snapped.

"We've always known Duo'd kill Jun," Wufei retorted. "Drive, Keith. We need to hit the taxi garage and the bus depot."

I slammed the door as Keith tried to bicker, flicking the glass in Som's face when he looked back to me with very sad eyes. He flinched at that, and I stepped away as the car creeped forward.

My cell started ringing.

"Yo?"

"Hey, Mr. Johnson!" Jesse said happily. "I just heard the most amazing thing…"

"Yeah, Jun took them yesterday," I snapped back irritably. "I know it broke on the news this morning."

Jesse laughed…that same happy laugh.

"I hardly think its funny," I snapped at him.

"It's the damnedest thing," he returned. "I just came across the two most _gorgeous_ little girls…and for some reason they keep calling me uncle."

I stared after Keith's car as my heart-beat doubled, waving at them as I realized I needed to share this.

"They're telling me some fantastic story about a train ride from hell and combat boots needing better lining…I don't believe them, though. I told them I should send them home because their daddies might be missing them, and they informed me that there was this big syndicate after them…so I'm jealous. How could you let _Jun_ re-plant Swathe when Jaded can't even sneeze without having a firearm pointed in their direction?"

I started laughing, looking up to the sky as the relief broke completely.

Keith's car reversed.

"How did _you_ find them?" I asked as the car stopped beside me again.

"What's up?" Wufei demanded, the window rolling down.

I leaned forward to look in at the three occupants. "Jesse's telling me lies."

"Lies?" Wufei asked blankly.

"He's claiming that two little girls showed up calling him uncle," I returned. "I guess they're telling him tall tales."

Wufei stared at me.

I laughed more.

"I'm over in Garrison," Jesse added. "I expect a full pardon for this, Duo."

"Shit, your statute ran out about a month ago…Garrison?"

"Garrison?" Wufei repeated.

"You're kidding, right?" Keith demanded. "This is some sick demented joke?"

"Duo!" Alex exclaimed as Jesse tried to protest. "Duo! We made it away! We got away! Just like you told us!"

"And you thought we were just trying to traumatize you," I noted, starting to smile.

"My arm hurts," Marlea noted. "Uncle, my arm hurts."

"We did it!" Alex repeated excitedly in the background.

"I just checked us into a little hotel called Log-Cabin," Jesse noted…I had to imagine they were taking the phone from each other. "I want you to know that if it's not one of you assholes rolling in here with a tank or something, we aren't coming out."

"Garrison, a little hotel called Log-Cabin," I repeated to Wufei. "He says he wants a tank."

Wufei snorted.

"Did we do good?" Alex asked uncertainly. "Was it okay that we didn't call you?"

"Well," I mused, "if you'd called before you were safe, Jun may have scented it. I guess he didn't find out until about a half hour ago that you were gone."

She giggled a little.

"Duo, be careful," Wufei muttered, reaching out to grab my arm. "Don't let him get you…and don't make this…carnage…all right?"

I frowned at him as the car started away.

"All right?" Wufei persisted, leaning out the window. "Duo!"

"Fine!" I snapped back.

"Uncle?"

"Wufei and Keith are coming," I returned…as the car peeled from the parking lot.

"Why aren't you?" Alex asked, suddenly sounding nervous.

"Because I have some unfinished business to take care of," I returned. "Something I should have done years ago."

"You…didn't hurt Som, did you?" she asked quietly. "I know…I know it wasn't good, what happened…but…he didn't try to kill you, did he?"

"He almost did," I noted. "He's fine, though."

"Jun said he was left at the castle and that he was…Duo? How's Tad?"

"I don't know, baby," I returned. "I…he was alive when we got to the school and Heero gave him some advice to keep him alive…but we've been busy since then."

"Okay," I could hear the tears in her voice.

"Hey, love," I muttered, starting to walk, "it's almost over, right? You're with Uncle Jesse and can take a shower…and in a matter of hours you'll be back with your dads."

"And you?" she asked.

Why did she have to realize I wasn't with the others?

"I'll be late, baby," I noted. "I love you…let me talk to Marlea."

"Uncle?" Lea asked in her own scared tone.

"Hey, sweet," I returned. "You guys did a really good job…and it was really good that you thought to call Jesse."

"Why is Alex crying?"

"Wufei is coming to get you."

"Wufei? Not you?"

"You'll see your dad in a few hours," I noted pointedly.

"You're going after Jun, aren't you?"

"I'll be late, huh? I'll get home some time tonight or tomorrow morning."

"Duo…are you sure he's worth it?"

"Marlea," I returned seriously, "Jun Martin tried again and again to force Wufei into…into a relationship with him…and then he even kidnapped him. If that wasn't bad enough, he hired Som to ruin me and kill me."

"He did?" she sounded sad. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

I laughed a bit, crossing the street. "I have to let you go now. I'll be home tonight or tomorrow."

"Wait…that…"

"The Cheshire Cat is an assassin, Marlea," I said quietly. "The Cheshire Cat is a known enemy of Jun Martin."

She swallowed.

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," I added. "And I mean that _if_ you don't ask me questions, I _won't_ lie to you. Let Jesse have a look at that cut, huh? And when you see me again you can knee me in the nuts or something."

"What?" she asked, laughing slightly.

"It was my fault," I explained. "I was the reason he cut you."

"You better have steel balls then," she noted in amusement.

"Just make sure those boots don't have steal toes," I noted, starting up the sidewalk. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

- -

E/N: Okay, 29 chapters total, so I'm doing this one now and I'll do the end tomorrow. Thanks for the review, Acid! hehe...


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

"Let me talk to my daughter! Jun!"

"I _told_ you! You'll have her back as soon as I get my money!" Jun shouted back at Trowa.

I prayed that Jun wouldn't realize Duo hadn't come running, because he would have if…if he were here. I wanted the man's leash brought up _short_ when he got to the end of it. I didn't want him to _know_ what was going on here.

Quatre was pacing agitatedly behind Trowa.

"No money until we see they're alive and safe!" Trowa snapped.

"Do you _want_ me to kill them?!" Jun shouted back.

"_Show_ me my daughter!"

Jun disconnected.

Trowa turned and attacked the wall in a fashion so similar to Duo that I wondered if I might have to sedate _him_…

"Where _are_ they?" Trowa demanded, settling himself.

"They could be almost anywhere," Quatre returned.

"Where would they have gone? Where did they _have_ to go?"

"On a hundred dollars?" I asked skeptically. "They won't make it too far on that."

"So why hasn't he found them yet?" Quatre snapped back.

My phone started ringing.

"Yeah?" I asked, blinking at Duo's number.

"It's the damnedest thing, my Sovereign," he returned in a completely pleasant tone. "I got a call from a certain Mr. Fallon of your acquaintance…"

Jesse?

"He informed me that two young ladies had accosted him, calling him uncle," he extended happily.

"They're with Jesse?" I demanded, standing up straighter.

Trowa and Quatre both focused on me.

"Yep," he noted. "Wufei and'em are on their way over to a hotel called Log-Cabin in Garrison."

"Garrison?" I breathed, looking to my friends.

How the _hell_ had they gotten all the way over to _Garrison_?

"I'm going to be late, Majesty," he added in a tone that sounded sincerely disappointed. "I do regret I will be late."

"Wait," I protested. "Duo…if…where _are_ you?"

"They seemed to have forgotten me in Branton," he explained.

My heart stopped.

"So, my King," Duo added happily, "do express my regrets to my fellow knights…and be of a certainty that Keith is _not_ left alone with my orange-boy, huh?"

"Duo…"

"I mean, he already tore him apart," Duo explained on. "I don't want to get back to the castle and find him huddled in the fetal position."

"How late are you planning on being?" I demanded.

"I don't want to do anything under my actual name," he explained, losing that fake tone he'd been holding. "I'm gonna try to stay unrecognized. Wufei made me promise no carnage, so the less rumor the better."

"Oh, Duo," I sighed, starting to rub at my eyes. "You're making my head hurt…at this rate you'll give _me_ a tic."

"You can have mine," he offered in that chipper tone. "I don't think I use it right."

I snorted at that.

"Tell Nira, for me?" he asked quietly. "Let her know I love her?"

"I will," I returned just as quietly, feeling a kind of gnawing irritation.

Of course he'd make _me_ tell Selena…what a jackass.

The line went dead and I lowered my phone, rubbing at my neck.

"He's doing it?" Trowa asked quietly.

I nodded.

The vid started beeping.

"Let me _talk_ to my daughter," Trowa hissed at Jun before he could speak.

"I'm going to cut her," Jun retorted.

"No money until I see her," Trowa insisted.

Jun hung up again.

…this was just turning into one of those days…

- -

"Are you gonna be all right?" I muttered as I sat in the living room of Trowa's apartment.

"I'll be fine," Quatre returned, the note of relief in his voice almost relaxing. "Wufei will be getting to them soon. We just have to keep arguing with Jun about the money."

"Why don't you tell him you know?"

He hesitated.

"Wait…where's Duo?"

He laughed a little bit.

"You're kidding, right? Duo's not…"

I didn't want to say that Duo was hunting down Jun, because our lives were excessively bogged down by the political process. I knew that saying the right key words would instantly trigger your conversation to be recorded, but I couldn't remember what those triggers were.

"Duo's not…" I sighed heavily. "_Quatre_…"

"I can't control him anymore," Quatre returned quietly.

I groaned, rubbing at my face.

"God willing, we'll be home soon," he noted in a tired voice. "Jacob? I'm getting too _old_ for this…my life expectancy was sixteen, max…why am I in my _thirties_?"

"You know what, Q?" I asked quietly.

"Hm?"

"Wade keeps coming to ask about you."

That made him hesitate.

"She said something about a real man at one point, but it might have been me she was talking about."

He made an amused noise.

"I bet Marlea will be happy to get home," I added, dropping back across the couch. "I miss you."

"Hm," he considered that. "Fine. You win."

"I thought I might," I noted, smiling slightly.

"But only because I know Wade meant _me_ and feel bad that you're so conceited you don't realize it."

I laughed at that.

"Vid," he said sharply…and hung up.

I closed my phone and dropped it into my lap, staring at the ceiling.

I was always told I was going to self destruct by twenty-five…so didn't I have him beat? Wait, no, that just meant five years or something…he had a good sixteen added.

Selena moved tiredly into the room and studied me a long moment before walking across the room and dropping next to me, laying her head in my lap.

"The girls escaped at three this morning," I informed her, studying an interesting tile. "They got to Jesse around eight, so Wufei's on his way to Garrison to pick them up. Jun keeps trying to pretend like he has them, though, so Heero and them are playing the game."

She turned her head to look up at me.

"I guess Duo and Keith got into it," I added. "Over Som, no less."

"He's the other boy," she muttered, resting down again with a sigh. "Repeat that, please?"

I did so.

"That's all you know?"

"It's all they said," I agreed.

"You didn't mention where Duo was."

"It's all Quatre said," I repeated.

She sighed heavily, turning her face into my thigh.

Relena came in, then, and looked at us with a curious expression.

"Have a seat, my Queen," I suggested, patting my other leg.

She grinned at me, looking down the hall. Hilde had gone to take a nap, and the three babies were sleeping in their bassinettes beside me. Blackie and Fei were both sleeping by my feet, and the little ones were with a tutor in the back-most bedroom.

I'd been sleeping on the couch…

When the tutor's voice was all there was to be heard, Relena moved over and dropped next to me on the other side…and laid her head on my leg like Selena had.

"Hi, Lena," Selena muttered.

"Hi, Lena," Relena agreed.

Selena almost laughed.

"What's going on?" Hilde asked tiredly, moving into the room and dropping on the arm of the rocking chair.

I sighed, stroking Relena's hair. "The girls escaped at three this morning. They're with Jesse in Garrison now. Wufei is heading to get them…Heero and Trowa are keeping up the charade of refusing to send the money."

"Huh," Relena mused quietly.

"I noted the lack of notice myself," Selena returned.

"Jacob…where's Duo?" Hilde asked quietly.

"Keith tore Som a new asshole," I suggested, looking to the woman again. "Something about Som going fetal and Duo getting pissed—I guess he and Keith went at it."

"Damn," Hilde muttered, rubbing at her temples. "He better not get himself killed."

I made an amused noise. "The kinda funny thing here is that I was more worried about him getting caught."

She partially giggled at that, looking to me.

I smiled in return.

"Mm, shut up and go to sleep," Relena suggested.

"I have this nifty bed," Hilde noted, rising to her feet and pointing to the room. "It might be empty without my husband…but it allows more leg-room than Jacob."

I smiled at her.

She disappeared back down the hall.

. . .a nap sounded nice.

- -

I looked the room over with interest, hearing hasty arguing down the hall. I had a feeling Jun'd put the girls on the third floor, and this looked like his own personal bedroom.

I grinned slightly, dropping backwards onto his bed.

Everything that was ever his was now forever _mine_…all of it. The power to move people, the disposable income…the people. Both working _for_ me and _with_ me…shit, even _Keith_ was mine, and I was pretty sure Keith was the only _real_ friend he'd had.

The argument got louder.

I'd never thought I'd hate anyone anymore than I hated Keith—but I didn't really hate Keith anymore, did I? The man had taken Kayla from me…and almost with the same motion gave me Selena. I didn't mean to sell Kayla short in any way. She'd deserved better than she'd gotten…but at least she'd known love, true love…but Selena had given me children.

The duplicity of this thought process had kept me awake through the long hours of any given night...but it changed nothing. Selena was the mother of my children, and god willing, Kayla was in heaven…or at least at peace.

God?

Maybe Som had given me more than a good night's rush in that chapel.

I pulled out one of my throwing knives, studying it over for chips or rust as the argument reached its crescendo and I heard a blow…then silence a long moment. Finally, footsteps.

I rose and moved to sit in the windowsill, looking to the door.

Jun stepped into the room and stopped, staring at me with slowly widening eyes.

"Mr. Martin," I greeted him happily, pushing myself back up. "You have no idea how _happy_ I am to see you."

- -

E/N: hehe, thanks for the reveiws Snow and Caraniel! I hope I don't disappoint hehehe


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

Lights were flashing above me…bright fluorescent ones…flash…flash…flash…

"Hold on, Sir Maxwell…"

Those words mean something…what do those words mean?

Flash…flash...flash…

"Stay with us…come on…"

What?

I closed my eyes as the noises around me got louder…

Flash…flash…flash…_pain_…

"I love you."

I stared at Kayla in saddened horror…because I knew what came next already.

"Love again, Duo…"

The machines were louder…they were all over and louder…the voices were more mixed and I wasn't being shoved out the door.

"I want you to love again…"

Why was it so quiet?

"Hello?"

No one answered me.

I stared down at the decimated stones of the church I'd once called home as the air conditioner blew too cold air around the area.

I'd heard once it was to keep the dead from decomposing.

I shivered hard, moving away backwards from that…

The bright light…that was…

I dove out the window with Heero, working my thermal scythe to save both our asses…the damn jackass hadn't ever thanked me for that…he still owed me that damn _part_…

It was still cold.

I heard beeping and looked around as the plasma screens popped up warning after warning of enemies approaching.

"I don't have time for _this_!" I shouted at the screens.

I had to get the girls…

Girls?

"Ashley's a pretty name…"

Selena was smiling at me.

I worked the controls hard and took off, praying that this would work…praying…

"You're in here _again_?"

I turned to look at Heero in annoyance as Wufei followed after him.

"What are you _doing_?" Heero snapped.

"Come on," Wufei added, "we're gonna be late."

The girls…

"One more! One more drink!"

"You're stupid drunk!" Wufei hissed, yanking the cup from my hand and slamming it down on the counter. "You drink anything, it'll be water!"

"Stupid drunk?" I laughed at him.

"Oh, Duo," Lanni muttered, touching my cheek. "You're such a dear heart…"

"Mr. Johnson! Mr. Johnson!" A group of teenage girls darted up to me with pictures. "Thank you so much!" I got hug after hug as they shoved the pieces of papers and pictures into my hands and ran off almost as quickly.

"Mr. Johnson!"

The girls…

"Tio Duo, I have to pee…"

"Please, hold on…just…please…"

Who was that? I didn't know that voice.

"You'll make an excellent father…"

I turned to look at Relena…and wondered if I'd done good.

Why was it so cold?

The noises were coming back…the beeping…

"Maybe…I'd better leave."

Som.

I blinked at the boy, wondering if it were really him. I'd had _so_ many dreams…

"Duo?" he asked, looking at me.

I tried to smile, but for some reason I couldn't really move…

He did one of those little gasp laugh things, darting forward to grab my hand…he was so warm…

"Duo?" he asked again.

I forced my eyes to open again.

"Hey, open your eyes," he muttered.

I'd said that to Dean…

Dean?

I forced my eyes open, seeing him smiling at me with tears in his eyes. He wiped at them, then turned to dart for the door.

Hey…wait…

Where am I?

The music was pounding…Wufei was right there…he always smelled like _that_ in clubs, especially when we were dancing. He laughed and bit my arm…and this time it stung…

"Aa…ow!" I tried to move away from the pain as I blinked at a man in a white jacket. "Ow!"

"Shh, shh, shh," the man soothed me. "The pain will stop in a minute."

I heard the heart monitor beeping a bit erratically, looking around the room in confusion.

"So you've decided to live, have you?"

"What?" I asked blankly, swallowing hard.

My chest felt weird.

"Majesty! He's awake!" he shouted.

"What?" I repeated, realizing that meant Heero.

"I'm sorry for this," he noted, indicating something he was injecting into my arm. "It'll help you heal faster, though."

Heero dove into the room with wild eyes, instantly moving up to my bed side…and shoving at my leg, glaring at me.

"You look like hell," I informed him. His hair was mussed and his clothes were rumpled. There were huge rings under his eyes, and he looked like he'd been crying.

"_I_ look like hell?" he demanded. "_**I**_ look like _hell_?"

I grinned slightly at that.

"You got _shot **three**_ times in the _chest_, and _**I**_ look like hell!?"

"As your Majesty wishes," I noted.

He started laughing, tears in his eyes as he dove down to hug me.

"Ow…ow…" I protested as my chest started to hurt…

"Oh, sorry, sorry…" he pulled away, wiping at my eyes as he looked me over, then moved around the bed so he could stand across from the doctor and studied me. "Duo…what happened?"

"I'll tell you later," I muttered as I remembered Jun falling to the floor…and then some guy had come…anyway, it didn't matter, because the doctor was there.

Wait, if they were calling me by name…

Heero ran hand along my forehead, his eyes sad. "Everyone knows. We moved in as soon as we could after we found out that Fei was getting the girls…I'd been trickling the troops to Branton anyway…and the news teams saw you being pulled out on a stretcher. We know what Wufei and the girls told us…you were going after Jun…and we don't have his body."

I met his eyes, my stomach clenching.

…the heart monitor sped up.

Heero glanced at it, then met my eyes again. "What happened?"

"I...he was alone," I explained, looking to the doctor expectantly. "He was alone when he came into his room…I got him with my knives," I noted, meeting Heero's eyes again. "Across the throat…but then someone came in shouting and shot me."

"So he shouldn't be alive," Heero noted, thinking about that.

"I don't know," I returned, looking away.

"Tell _no_ one," Heero ordered the doctor in a cold tone.

The man's eyes were wide as he stared between us…and he nodded. "Of course, your majesty."

"You half assed it?" Heero added to me irritably.

"I was _interrupted_," I snapped back.

"What…" the doctor hesitated.

"I ordered him to take out Jun Martin," Heero lied, looking back to the poor guy. "Knives are generally more quiet than guns, but some set ups are more difficult than others."

"Of course," the guy bowed, then swallowed and pointed at my arm. "Did it stop hurting, Sir Maxwell?"

"Not hardly," I muttered, focusing on him with a grin. The pain was sort of heady…and very real…and really, I'd never been an anti-pain advocate.

He blinked at that, then tilted his head and looked at something in the vial before nodding…and pulling the thing out of my arm.

I hissed at that one.

"See," Heero muttered in pleasant Japanese as he studied the doctor, "you were a good boy and I gave you a treat."

I started laughing at that, then started coughing.

"Som and Selena have been bickering," Heero added, looking back down to me as the doctor half bowed and darted from the room. "They're arguing over why you smiled at him. He's saying it was because you two still have a secret thing going on and Selena's trying to insist he was just funny looking."

I laughed again, but that hurt, too.

"Hey, are you all right?" he muttered, shifting to be in my face better.

"All right?" I demanded. "I was shot three times in the chest."

He smiled.

"Actually, I woke up because I heard him," I added, feeling very tired. "I woke up…and he was talking to me…and I tried to smile, but it didn't work."

"If you die now, I swear I'll march right after you and kick your ass."

I laughed a bit at that, shaking my head. "I'm tired, Ro…I'm really tired."

"So why did you smile?"

"Huh? Oh…because…because…Dean."

"What?" Heero asked blankly.

"He talked to me…like…to Dean," I returned as my eyes started closing again.

"Oh come on, you can stay awake longer than that," Heero protested, his warm hand on my face again.

I liked how warm he was.

"Told me to…open my eyes," I explained a bit more, "like I talked to Dean…"

"Duo…"

- -

"Told me…enm…eyes…like…Dean…"

"Duo…" I protested…but the heart monitor had settled into the steady beat it'd pretty much been in since we'd come running when Som said he'd smiled at him.

And, of course, I was at the hospital alone.

I had never wanted to wait like that again…to know that someone I love was _that_ close to death. Kayla had been one time too many…and then they'd all done the shift-around thing that we'd done, but when I'd come back last time, the waiting room had been in shambles and Duo'd been sedated.

It was more like the waiting room would be spotless and _I'd_ be sedated this time.

He had _woken_ up, he had _talked_ to me…sure, he'd slurred and mumbled some, but he had tracked our conversation.

So was Jun dead or not?

Probably, if Duo'd gotten him with his knives.

But if Duo had been _interrupted_…

This was just…too much.

It'd been two days since the girls had shown up with Jesse. It'd been two _very_ long days that Duo'd been in the hospital showing no signs of coming out of the…the coma…or whatever they wanted to _call_ it.

When we'd gotten the confirmation call that the girls were _with_ Jesse, and that Duo _had_ been left in Branton…well, I'd given up on the game of just-in-case with Jun and we'd all loaded up and headed out. The Branton armory had been the staging point. It'd taken us less than half the time it should have to get there, but by that point, the police had cleared the roads and let us go while the news replayed interviews and noted that they had no new updates.

It hadn't mattered anyway.

Duo had been somewhat cold when he'd been found, alone in that bedroom. There'd been more blood than could be accounted for around him, so he'd probably fallen rather close to Jun, if not outright on top of him.

The initial triage had taken place in a helicopter when we all thought he was dead.

It'd been terrifying to know that he'd asked _me_ to take care of his family and Som beforehand…like he could tell something was going to go wrong…

The thing about it all had been after Som came running into the waiting room to say Duo was awake. We'd rushed back, and Duo'd had a slight smile on his face, but he wasn't anymore awake than he'd been previously. The eighteen year old had pointed out the smile almost nervously as if it proved he'd been telling the truth…and after a long moment of us all being disappointed, Nira'd demanded why he was smiling.

Som's instant and somewhat flippant reply was that seeing your lover always makes you happy…which had been followed by him _realizing_ what he'd said and getting very nervous as Keith walked out of the room.

Selena'd laughed and retorted it was probably because his hair was so messy.

Poor Som.

He'd been shipped off to L-3 for training when he was ten. He'd gone through some regular school processes, but he'd had the intense kind of training the rest of us'd had that we'd _never_ wish on anyone else.

His hadn't been _as_ hard, considering he didn't know anything about the Gundams or the maintenance of MS in general, but he had the rest of our skills and a language or two more than most of us.

Thai had been his first language.

Aside from that training, though, the only attention spared him had been because he was a 'pretty little Asian boy,' and as soon as we'd realized it we'd all regretted teasing him and Duo about it.

He talked to me and Trowa about these things. He'd spent the two nights sitting with me, and early mornings sitting with Trowa when I'd go to sleep…then he'd go back to the castle and sleep at Duo's apartment before coming again to do our nightly vigil.

He'd never been taken seriously before. His opinions or thoughts had never been valid. His mother and his sister would listen to him, and his sister did care, but…his father had only even started to acknowledge him when Jun had wanted him. When he'd ended up sleeping with Jun, his father hadn't done more than turn his head.

He'd actually had a few relationships with older married men who seemed a lot like Duo, really. They'd show they cared and sweet talk him, coax him into trusting them, and then…drop him by the wayside. He'd repeated to me the conversation he'd had with Duo that first morning before Quatre had come in, and justified the comparison with flying colors. The only difference was that Duo hadn't ever intended to just chase him off. Duo wouldn't have completely abandoned him…and, of course, noting this had sent him off into a ramble about how it actually _was_ different.

Not the best way to wait for your best friend _not_ to die.

I hit Duo in the leg again, shaking my head as I started back for the waiting room.

Didn't it figure he'd pass out and let me have all the fun?

Shit, what were friends for?

- -

It was nice to be warm.

I opened my eyes, looking at the blond head laying on the mattress beside me. I smiled slightly at my niece and moved my arm to touch her soft hair. It took me a second to realize that Alex was on the other side, and I smiled even more.

The girls.

I touched Alexia's hair, realizing I was high as a kite. Whatever pain meds they'd pumped into me were really working. I could hear the steady beat of the heart monitor, and beyond that, a general lull of people walking and talking in the hall through the open door.

I was dreaming about Selena that time.

"You _ass_."

I jumped slightly, focusing on Marlea.

"How am I supposed to knee you in the nuts if you're on a bed?" she explained. "You told me I could, because _this_ was your fault…" and she extended her wrapped arm.

"Tio!" Alex muttered, roused by her cousin. She jumped forward and hugged me as best she could around the neck. "Tio Heero said you'd been awake, but we didn't know if he meant it or not…"

"Hey, baby," I muttered, hugging her back some. "Thoroughly traumatized?"

Alex giggled, shifting back so Lea could hug me.

"What happened?" Lea added, frowning at me. "You…got shot. I thought that didn't happen to you."

I laughed a bit at that. "I'm _not_ immortal, I'm sorry to say. I'm also _not_ a god…"

"You say now that you've been hit," Trowa retorted from the door to the room. "I do recall you claiming to be the god of death at one point or another."

"Teenage hormones," I returned, smiling at him. "Put one of the girls in Deathscythe and they'll claim it, too."

They grinned at that.

Trowa moved across the room and hit my leg.

"Oh, Geeze," I muttered, rolling my eyes slightly. "You're _all_ going to do that, aren't you?"

"Do what?" he retorted.

"Hit me there," I explained, moving my right knee. "Heero did it, you did it…when Fei comes in, _he'll_ do it…where's my baby? Where's my daughter? Shit, where's my wife? At least if _she_ hits me, she'll make it worth my time."

Alex giggled wickedly, smacking my arm.

I grinned at her, then looked back to Marlea.

"Wufei actually got a tank," she informed me with a grin. "He came riding in sitting beside the man-hole thing."

I groaned, smacking my hand to my face.

She laughed happily. "Had a whole platoon behind him…and a SWAT team showed up first, though, searched the hotel rooms and kinda did the honor guard thing. Jesse was laughing his ass off the entire time, but they were _really_ reporting to Fei."

"We didn't know if Jun'd found you or not," I returned, studying them both. "It's one of those formalities."

"Duo…"

I looked to the door at Wufei's voice.

He moved across the room, studying my eyes…as the heart monitor sped up.

Heero could control his hear-rate, but me? No…

Marlea looked to Alex as she moved out of the way, and Trowa grinned as he stepped back.

He was either going to _hurt_ me, or he was going to break down.

…or both.

I held him as best I could as my leg throbbed where he'd punched me.

"I hate you so bad," he whispered in my ear.

"I love you," I returned, not letting him pull away. "I'm sorry."

"Sure…he'll apologize to _him_," Marlea noted wryly.

"I'm gonna kick your little blond ass," I informed the girl.

She gave me a challenging look. "You wish."

"If I didn't have _bullet holes_ in my _chest_, I'd _so_ chase you down."

She laughed delightedly, moving up to the bedside again as she studied me.

Wufei pulled away to study my eyes a long moment, then sighed…and hit me in the same spot again.

I hissed, giving him a look. "_Wufei_…"

He grinned impishly at me.

"Oh, so he _is_ awake," Quatre noted dryly.

I sighed. "Where is my _wife_? She should be present with my _daughter_ and my _son_."

"So you don't want to see us?" Heero asked happily…he was holding a baby wrapped in a blanket.

I studied the bundle, trying to guess the size.

"I mean…we all come over here every day to watch you sleep, and you're not happy to see us?"

"Well…I do…I…" I sighed.

"Daddy! Mom! Dad's awake! Hurry up, Mom! Heero!" Ashley's bossy little voice was music to my ears. "Heero! He wants to see _Dean_."

Heero grinned as Ashley bounced between everyone and darted up on to the bed itself, climbing up my legs to sit on me and study me with narrowed eyes.

"What?" I asked, wary.

"Mom said you were being stupid again," she informed me.

"And your mother is _always_ right," I agreed, grinning at her.

"She told me that I can be mad at you, so I am," she noted.

"Give me a kiss, then."

"What?"

"Give me a kiss," I retorted, giving her the same sort of bossy look she was giving me.

She crawled up the side without tubing and leaned in to kiss me before I yanked her to me and held her a long moment. The spots on my chest weren't happy about it, but she wasn't struggling against me…as she started to cry.

Yeah…my baby girl was strong, but my baby girl _was_ a baby girl. She clung to me.

"In case you couldn't tell," Heero added, moving to stand beside me, "we talked this morning."

"All right," I muttered as Ash finally pulled away. "Look at you," I muttered, wiping at the tears. "You look terrible when you cry."

"_You_ look terrible when you cry," she retorted, wiping at my tears.

I smiled at her.

"Heero," she snapped almost impatiently, "he wants to see _Dean_."

"Don't take that tone with me," Heero retorted, lowering Dean so he was sitting against the bed near his sister and blinking at me…he smiled.

"Hey, junior," I muttered, grabbing his hand. "What are you doing?" I muttered, shaking his arm so he smiled larger, his entire face beaming since he was being played with. "I bet your mommy's pissed at me," I noted as he made an excited noise. "I bet she is…yeah…she got sissy all pissed at me…"

Ashley giggled.

"Okay, Ashley," Selena noted from beyond Heero. "You need to get off the bed now."

"Aww, Mom…dad didn't tell me too…"

"Listen to your mother," I muttered to the girl as Heero moved with Dean away from me. "She wins all the arguments anyway."

Ashley grinned her wicked grin, then turned to Trowa so he'd take her down.

…it seemed like years since I'd seen my wife.

She smiled at me as she moved closer, and I could see the dark rings under her eyes, too. She moved up to the bed and slid onto it, crossing her legs as she gave me a pointed look.

"I'm sorry?" I offered instantly.

She arched her brow.

"I won't do it again?"

Raised eyebrows.

"I shouldn't have done it at all?"

She tilted her head.

"Uh…I was…stupid?"

She started laughing, leaning down to hug me tightly.

"Oww…" I noted, trying to hug her back.

"You're such an asshole," she informed me pointedly, kissing me.

I let that carry on for a bit before sighing and pulling away to nuzzle her.

"Hilde and Relena are going to come later with Jacob," she noted, touching my face. "Do you want Dusty and Faye?"

"If it weren't such a hassle, I'd say get everyone here now…I don't know how long I'm gonna be awake."

"You're not _that_ special," she informed me.

I grinned, kissing her again.

"Duo…Som is terrified that you're going to hate him," she said quietly.

"Hate him for what?" I demanded, rolling my eyes. "He hasn't _done_ anything."

"Well, he did run around half-dressed trying to catch you up when he first got here," she noted, her fingers exploring my face.

"Mm, that feels good," I returned, thinking about it. "Shit, Nira…it was all in fun when he first got here…and then I got over it. He actually got the shit done I needed done."

She giggled a bit.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, I dunno," Quatre mused, hitting me in the leg.

I focused on him in irritation…and noted Som standing beside him with wide eyes.

Selena giggled more.

"Would you _stop_ doing that!?"

**_End_**

- -

E/N: Ties That Bind...the story of living, learning, and getting over it. One more life by the wayside, one more stumbling block down the road. No one ever said life would be easy, but stick with it and you'll make it to the end. For the years that've passed since I started Blood on the Window, I always saw this as a trilogy. For some reason, though, it's not. There's at least one more story waiting here, and hopefully it won't take me another two years to spin it out, huh? Thanks to everyone who bore with the waiting, I hope I didn't dissapoint. –Kye


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